Neil Lennon Reveals Failed Bid for Ryan Christie

NEIL LENNON confirmed he tried to take Ryan Christie to Hibernian last summer when Brendan Rodgers was trying to sign John McGinn.

The transfer saga of the summer with Celtic playing a cat and mouse game with the Easter Road outfit ultimately ended in failure. Aston Villa came calling and by the time Celtic had a bid accepted, John had been offered a tremendous wage packet.

Neil Lennon has admitted while Celtic were sniffing around John last summer, he made it clear he wanted Ryan Christie as part of any deal.

Ryan was spinning his wheels at Celtic after coming off an 18-month stint at Aberdeen with only a year left on his contract. It looked like Ryan would be leaving Celtic at some point and Neil wanted to be the one to take him to Hibernian.

The Celtic manager thanks his lucky stars this didn’t happen with the player making the breakthrough last term and now taking up a starring rile within his Celtic side.

“I actually wanted Ryan at Hibs as part of the McGinn deal if it happened. I’d been impressed with him when he was on loan at Aberdeen.

“Thankfully it didn’t happen, he took his chance when it came along and hasn’t looked back.

“Maybe it was a sliding doors moment but he’s made the most of it. That’s the key. He works hard behind the scenes and he’s talented, too. He makes us a better team.

“We looked at a lot of footage of him this time last year when I was at Hibs. We knew of his capabilities.

“A lot of the time, Brendan Rodgers or Derek McInnes would play him in a three in midfield.

“I like to see him a little bit more advanced in the ten role. He can do attacking midfield no problem as well.

“There’s that string to his bow where he can play a number of positions. I obviously want him in attacking areas because I think he can open up defences. I think he’s got goals in him too.”