Ryan Christie's Celtic future 'in his hands' as Ange Postecoglou speaks on him and 'incredible' Kyogo Furuhashi

It was impossible for any aspect of Ange Postecoglou’s first league win and first clean sheet as Celtic manager to overshadow Kyogo Furuhashi hat-trick in the 6-0 evisceration of Dundee. However, the 55-year-old recognises the importance of the attacking support play that provided the platform for the Japanese attacker to parade his endowments and the likelihood that may not be available to him long-term.

Ange Postecoglou congratulates Kyogo Furuhashi after withdrawing the striker to standing ovation following his hat-trick in the club's 6-0 thumping of Dundee. (Photo by Craig Williamson / SNS Group)

Ryan Christie excelled across the afternoon, but it is likely to be one of his last such outings, with the Scotland international believed to see his future elsewhere as he enters the final six months of his Parkhead deal. Nice, Burnley, Crystal Palace have all been linked with the player in recent months. On recent evidence, that would remove a vital building block of Postecoglou’s team reconstruction but the Celtic manager admits he isn’t in a position to affect the situation.

“I don’t think I need to twist his arm. I’ve already said that if this [the experience of playing in front of Celtic Park crowds] doesn’t convince him, I don’t think anything can,” he said. “I think there are more questions for Ryan than me. I’d love to have him as part of the club.

“All I can do is treat people as I have seen them, and he has been fantastic from the moment I’ve come into the place. With the way he’s training and the way he’s playing his football, he’s a fantastic footballer and he suits the way I want to play. But I’m not the master of his future, that’s in his hands.”

Meanwhile, Postecoglou’s Celtic future could be safe in the hands of the man he identified as his totemic signing in Furuhashi. “It’s quite incredible, and he could have probably had a couple more as well,” Postecoglou said of Furuhashi’s home debut. “I think people see what I’ve seen in him from the past three or four years. It’s not just his goals, it’s his movement ,and just his willingness to work. He closed down players. If anything that buys you more into the kind of person he is, and I think the fans will appreciate that. It’s great getting the goals, but when they see his efforts in a defensive sense, they know he’s working for the shirt.”

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