Ryan Christie: Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou has say on midfielder's future amid speculation

Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou says he would “love” to keep Ryan Christie at the club if the midfielder sees his future in Glasgow.

Ryan Christie scored for Celtic against West Ham.

The 26-year-old Scotland internationalist is now in the final 12 months of his contract at Celtic Park and speculation is mounting that the former Inverness and Aberdeen player wants a new challenge.

Despite the uncertainty, Postecoglou picked him in his first competitive match of the season in last Tuesday’s 1-1 draw with FC Midtjylland in the Champions League second qualifying round and he will likely be a big player again for Celtic in the return leg in Denmark on Wednesday.

Postecoglou has been impressed with Christie’s performance levels since arriving at the club, hailing his intelligence and work rate.

“Firstly he was outstanding on Tuesday night [against Midtjylland], particularly when we went down to ten men,” said Postecoglou, who watched Christie score in a 6-2 defeat by West Ham in a friendly on Saturday. “As everyone knows when you go down to ten men you need everyone to put in an extra shift and he did the work of two.

“He’s such an intelligent player but also one that’s willing to work hard for the team. In terms of his future, I’m pretty consistent. There’s things I can’t control. “I’d love to keep him at the football club if he wants to stay but right now he’s a contracted player, he’s got a few months to go on his deal and he’s training awfully hard and if he keeps playing like he did on Tuesday night then I’ll keep selecting him.”

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