Celtic legend Davie Hay has identified Ryan Christie as potential first-team sensation at Parkhead next season.
The attacker midfielder, 22, is enjoying great success during his second loan spell at Aberdeen, which is due to expire next summer.
Christie was signed by Celtic from Inverness in 2015, but has only made 13 appearances in all competitions for his parent club.
Former Celtic midfielder Hay has highlighted Christie’s contribution for Aberdeen this season ahead of the two teams’ meeting on Saturday, and is confident he can return to Parkhead and do the same next season.
Speaking to the Evening Times, Hay said: “Aberdeen played exceptionally well against Hibs, but I think that ironically, the fact they will be missing a Celtic player from their line-up in Ryan Christie will really hurt them. Christie has done exceptionally well for the Dons this season, and I think he will be a huge miss for them this afternoon.
“I’m sure that Derek McInnes may say otherwise, but I think that he has been integral to a lot of Aberdeen’s good performances this season, and he will be so hard for them to replace with the role he carries out for the side.
“I really believe that he is a player who could come back to Celtic Park in the summer and make a real impact on Brendan Rodgers’s first-team plans. Put it this way, he isn’t doing himself any harm by the way he is performing at Aberdeen. The loan move was the right thing to do at the time for the boy in particular and for Celtic, and Aberdeen are getting the benefit of that.”
OPINION
Celtic fans will be excited by the comments about the rapidly improving Christie, but also eager to see him in action at Parkhead. They will be thinking, ‘if he is that good, why is he not in our team?’ Christie has scored five goals and provided seven assists in 23 appearances in all competitions this season for the Dons, mainly from a wide left role. He is versatile, mobile, technically good and has an eye for goal. There is a growing noise around him, both from pundits, teammates and the Scottish coaching fraternity. The evidence is growing that Celtic have a gem on their hands.