Ryan Christie reveals why he decided to leave Celtic for Bournemouth

Ryan Christie had made a brilliant start to the season at Celtic following the arrival of Ange Postecoglou as manager. He looked like a perfect fit in this style of football due to his quality on the ball and energy off it.

He had quickly become one of the most important players in the team once again after a disappointing 2020/21 campaign. Thus, his departure on deadline day of the summer transfer window must be considered as a major blow for the Hoops.

Christie left the club to join Bournemouth in the English Championship although rumours have suggested that he could have chosen to go to the Premier League as well.

While speaking with Bournemouth’s official website, Christie revealed the reason behind his decision to join the Cherries:

"“Throughout my whole career I’ve always wanted to try my hand down in England and I’m really excited to join a team who’s going for promotion, going out to win games and achieve success. I’m used to that at Celtic so hopefully I can help bring that to Bournemouth.“The attraction was a bit of everything. It sounds a bit crazy but I’ve actually had an affection for Bournemouth for years now. Believe it not Bournemouth put a bid in for me back in my Inverness days as a really young player. You could say I’ve looked out for the club for a good few years now.”"

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Christie leaving is a major blow for Celtic

It is safe to say that Christie was playing some great football this season and was a regular in Postecoglou’s side till he left. Thus, his departure will be a blow to the Hoops.

Now, it will be interesting to see how the manager replaces Christie in the team. The club did sign Jota on a season-long loan on deadline day but the Portuguese star is a winger and not a midfielder. As a result, the Hoops do appear to be a bit light on options in the middle of the park at this point of time.

It will be hard to simply replace the energy that Christie brought to the midfield. While both David Turnbull and Tom Rogic possess a lot of quality on the ball, they do not have the defensive side to their game that Christie has.

Thus, it will be interesting to see what kind of a team Postecoglou fields moving forward. It is clear though that the manager needs to find a way to replace Christie in the starting XI.