Migration is beneficial. Even in football

If Gary Mackay-Steven moves from Celtic to Aberdeen he will be the third creative midfield player to transfer between the clubs this window. Ryan Christie’s loan to Aberdeen was extended for this season. Jonny Hayes move to Celtic created a vacancy on Aberdeen’s right, and in doing so moved Mackay-Steven down the Celtic pecking order. On paper the move north would be great for the Celtic winger.

This is not quite the top two clubs collaborating on squad management, but it’s as close as you are likely to get. Aberdeen would have preferred to keep Hayes, but with money on the table for a player running down his contract he was sold to the highest bidder: Celtic.

Christie was brought to Celtic by Ronny Deila as a development project. Openings for the creative mid slots at Celtic are incredibly competitive. The risk to Christie is that his development, which was purring along nicely at Inverness, stalls in the Celtic stands. It is in Celtic’s and his best interests that the he plays regularly in an attacking team.

Mackay-Steven has a glorious first few weeks at Celtic but has been hampered by the perennial burden of wingers: consistency. His confidence appears shot. If he moved to Pittodrie, Derek McInnes may be able to get the best out of him.

There’s an empirically established economic fact: migration is economically beneficial for both the gaining and losing nations. This summer’s proposed migration between Celtic and Aberdeen is likely to fall into this category.

Here is the new CQN Podcast…