RYAN CHRISTIE today agreed a new three-year deal with Celtic to settle his immediate future at the champions.
The 23-year-old Scotland international midfielder, who was due to come out of contract at the end of the campaign, has proved he can be a key player in Brendan Rodgers’ plans with his recent excellent performances.
Christie came on for the injured Olivier Ntcham at half-time in the Betfred League Cup semi-final win over Hearts at Murrayfield at the end of last month and helped turn the game around. He scored one and was involved in the other two – claimed by Scott Sinclair (pen) and James Forrest – in the 3-0 triumph.
The Highlander followed that up with a fine finish in the 5-0 romp against Dundee at Dens Park and he slotted in a penalty-kick against the Tynecastle outfit in another five-goal rout the Premiership three days later.
Christie was signed by ex-gaffer Ronny Deila in the summer of 2015, but returned to Inverness Caley Thistle for the first half of the campaign.
He returned to the Hoops and made his debut against St Johnstone, but struggled to hold down a settled first team place and was loaned to Aberdeen in January 2017.
Last summer, he signed another temporary season-long contract with the Pittodrie outfit where he became a regular and even managed to break into the international set-up.
Christie has now followed team-mates Kieran Tierney, Tom Rogic, Forrest and Ntcham in signing extended deals at the club.
