Former Celtic defender Mark Wilson claims that Nice will look to bid upwards of £10m for Celtic attacking midfielder Ryan Christie in the January transfer window.
Reports emerged last month that the Ligue One club, along with Burnley and Newcastle, were keeping tabs on the 25-year-old and Wilson says they are now looking to step up their interest in the player:
“Top French side Nice want to sign Christie and are prepared to bid in excess of £10m in January. For somebody that’s played in Europe and went from Celtic to the continent, he’s the kind of player you could see fitting into that European style of football. Patrick Vieira, Nice’s manager… I hear they’ve been keeping tabs on him for quite a while now.”
Coming off the back of a spectacular goal in the Scottish Cup semi-final against Aberdeen, fans on Twitter feel that Christie is worth a lot more than what Nice will reportedly be offering:
They only buying his right leg?
— Soup Campbell (@Iansdiscos) November 4, 2020
U joking ??
— lucas (@lucas10IAR) November 4, 2020
No wonder it didn’t work out for marc at brechin, must have been tough juggling that and Nice head of recruitment.
— Scott Brothers (@ScottBro1011) November 4, 2020
Here we go , its try to unsettle celtic players time.
— steve ??????? (@Stevee5) November 4, 2020
??
— mm1976 (@fridgefixer) November 4, 2020
That’s the least he will be worth boys a quality quality player
— Gary Small (@GarySma32095167) November 4, 2020
Christie is worth more than 10M ???
— Ryan O’Donnell (@RyanODo41314975) November 4, 2020
One important question to ask here is how does Wilson know about this? It does seem unlikely that he has insider sources in France.
There is, though, some concern over Christie’s contract situation. Celtic are believed to have held discussions over a possible extension to his current deal which expires in 2022 but, so far, there has been no progress in negotiations. It could be the case that Nice are looking to take advantage of the impasse in January.