McLeish suggests senior figure driving force behind Christie quitting Celtic
Alex McLeish has suggested Ryan Christie’s agent was the driving force behind his move from Celtic to Bournemouth.
The former Scotland manager, speaking exclusively to Football Insider, suggested the midfielder may have needed convincing of the Cherries’ ambitions ahead of his deadline day switch.
Bournemouth announced the signing of the Scotland international on Tuesday (August 31st).
Earlier that day, Football Insider revealed the Cherries had agreed a fee of up to £3million for Christie.
His contract at Celtic was set to expire in January.
The 21-cap Scotland international joins Bournemouth as they target a return to the Premier League after being relegated in 2020.
McLeish claims that Christie won’t have made the South Coast switch without believing promotion was possible.
“His agent probably guided him in terms of assessing Bournemouth’s ambition,” he told Football Insider‘s Russell Edge.
“They were a Premier League team until recently, and they will desperately want to get back to the top tier.
“Ryan has to believe that there is potential for them to get back, and within the squad, their aims will be to play in the Premier League.
“It’s a good club with good infrastructure, and as we know – the Championship is one of the most well-supported divisions in the world.
“Ryan has had a great couple of seasons and he has merited this move.”
Christie scored once and contributed three assists in nine appearances for the Hoops this season.
Bournemouth currently sit sixth in the Championship and are yet to suffer defeat in the league this season.
In other news, this pundit has made a ‘massive’ Leigh Griffiths claim.