Newcastle United and Southampton are monitoring the situation of Celtic’s creative midfielder Ryan Christie and could rival Leicester City and Leeds United for his signature in January, as reported by 90min.com.
Christie is a very influential performer for Celtic and the 25-year-old has registered three goals and five assists for the Scottish giants in 14 league appearances so far this term. That comes after his impressive tally of 11 goals and 11 assists in the league last season to help his team to a ninth successive league title (Sofascore).
However, the attacking midfielder is yet to extend his current deal at Celtic, which is set to run out in 2022, and is reportedly reluctant to commit to fresh terms (90min.com). Leicester have been heavily linked with a potential move for him as Brendan Rodgers looks to reunite with the talented 25-year-old, who was key performer at Celtic Park when the current Foxed manager was in charge there.
It has been reported that Newcastle and Southampton have joined Leeds United in monitoring the 16-cap Scotland international‘s situation at Celtic ahead of the January window (90min.com). That could potentially signal the start of a bidding war for Christie and it will be interesting to see whether any firm offers are lodged in the winter window.
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Steve Bruce has already confessed that Newcastle are unlikely to be very busy in the transfer market, and the Magpies will need to possibly sell some players in order to raise any funds which could potentially enable them to compete in the race to sign Christie from Celtic.
However, Bruce did suggest that the Magpies could dip into the market if something really encouraging became available. Newcastle’s draw against Fulham on Saturday highlighted the lack of creativity in midfield and Christie is a player who could come in and provide some much-needed attacking threat. He has been hailed as ‘incredible’ by former Scotland international James McFadden for his performances with the Hoops.
Although this transfer seems look unlikely to happen, Newcastle might decide to make a move for the 25-year-old were they to lose Miguel Almiron, who has been linked with a potential exit from St James’ Park. Christie’s future could well lie away from Celtic and he seems to be a player with the qualities to make a real impact in the Premier League.
