Mutter the name Ryan Christie in the presence of a Celtic supporter and it may just send shivers down their spine or provoke a look of despair in your general direction.
On his day, the former Bhoy had the potential to frighten defences to death, cutting inside with the finesse of Arjen Robben and devastatingly finding the net. Yet, on other days, the ex-Parkhead gem resembled a frustrated figure, somebody who to coin an old phrase, couldn’t hit a barn door.
That was the story of Christie’s Celtic career in a nutshell; promise, excitement but ultimately, he’d let you down and disappoint too regularly. The very fact he was branded a “laughing stock” by pundit Frank McAvennie paints a very vivid picture of his final campaign with Celtic.
After all, at one stage last term, he scored just once in a run of 19 league outings.
Yet, as the Premiership title race begins to captivate and enthral with Ange Postecoglou’s side stuttering in attack, they could well do with his presence.
Liel Abada has been exceptional at times this term, scoring 14 goals and assisting 11 since penning terms with the Scottish giants. Sadly, however, he has failed to find the net in his last four outings.
Daizen Maeda has also struggled and with the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi, Karamoko Dembele and Giorgos Giakoumakis regularly spending time on the sideline through injury, they have been bereft of much offensive depth.
Additionally, James Forrest’s career looks to be winding down now but in Christie, they had the perfect man to cover in a multitude of positions across the forward line and his presence would surely be appreciated right now.
He wasn’t always a prolific goalscorer but in terms of his creativity, he was a marvel, supplying 15 goals in his final campaign in Scotland.
Capped 26 times by his country, he also offers experience, something that would be invaluable to a young and developing Celtic team.
To call letting him go a mistake may be pushing it, but there must be an element of regret in allowing him to run down to the final six months of his contract.
As a result, the Bhoys fetched just £2.5m for a player whose value has quickly increased by a whopping 224% to £8.1m after waving farewell to Postecoglou and co.
Celtic have fetched plenty of big fees in recent years; namely for the likes of Odsonne Edouard and Kieran Tierney, but they should have received far more for Christie as well.
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