McInnes eager to keep Christie for another year
DEREK McInnes admits he’d love to keep on-loan Ryan Christie at Aberdeen for another year. The Celtic midfielder has claimed three goals in 22 appearances since heading to the Granite City in search of first-team football.
However, Dons boss McInnes insists he remains in the dark at present over his chances of keeping him any longer.
‘In an ideal world, I’d love to keep working with him but it’s not something that’s been spoken about,’ he said. ‘Celtic and Ryan are in the driving seat with that.
‘We’ve just got him for the remainder of the campaign but if there was any encouragement that it would be a possibility then it’s obviously something I’d be keen on. Whether it’s do-able or not, I don’t know.’
Since joining Celtic for £500,000 in 2015, 22-year-old Christie has spent half of his time on loan at former club Inverness Caley Thistle, followed by Aberdeen.
Parkhead manager Brendan Rodgers has offered little indication of his long-term plans for a player signed by predecessor Ronny Deila, with an inability to guarantee first-team action offering a shaft of hope for Aberdeen beyond this season.
‘It’s always been something that’s hung about successful Old Firm teams,’ acknowledged McInnes, drawing on his own experience in the process. ‘Similar to myself hanging about with Rangers without every being a regular, but you hang about for those Champions League games and Scottish Cup finals to be involved.
‘But is it to the detriment of your career? There’s that argument, as well. It’s a fine balance really for being a squad player at a bigger club.’
Christie spent the new year break weathering bitterly cold temperatures in New York with Stuart Armstrong and Gary Mackay-Steven, both team-mates at Celtic, although the latter has now, of course, joined him at Aberdeen after making a permanent switch in the summer.
Insisting he has no regrets over joining the Parkhead club and finding himself in a similar situation, Mackay-Steven has regained form and contentment since moving to Pittodrie on a two-year contract, but believes his friend has to follow his own instincts.
‘Of course, we’d all love him to stick around,’ he said. ‘But it’s entirely his opportunity and his decision. I’m sure he’ll do well whatever he decides.
‘You don’t think like you are going back and you are not going to play. You think positively all the time.
‘Every time you get a chance to impress, then impress.
‘Ryan has come to Aberdeen and he’s done great. Long may it continue for him and it’ll be his decision in the summer.’
Asked if he had any advice for Christie, Mackay-Steven added: ‘I don’t need to tell Ryan anything. Ryan has shown he has great ability and, if you always have confidence in that and you play freely, you know that it will come out.
‘Whatever he decides to do, he’ll be just fine and show what a good player he is.’
Adding to the potential loss of Christie will be the fact that midfielder Kenny McLean is certain to depart on freedom of contract.
Arguing that McLean’s contribution to Aberdeen will only be fully appreciated when he’s no longer around, McInnes admitted: ‘Kenny and Ryan Christie are big players for us.
‘We are going to lose Kenny, and Ryan will go back to Celtic. It’s disheartening a bit, but it’s also the game and the world in which we live.
‘You don’t use it as an excuse for the next season. You try to work with what you have and get on with it.
‘We are more fortunate than a lot of clubs in Scotland, but not as fortunate as others.’
McLean has already publicly confirmed his plans to move on, with the English Championship a likely destination.
Loathe to accept a knockdown fee in the current window, however, the Dons boss added: ‘We are preparing for life without Kenny. But I’m planning for Kenny to be here until the end of the season.
‘You don’t want to lose any of your key players. We fought hard last year to keep Jonny Hayes in January because we felt it was important.
‘No one wants to lose key players in January. You see it in the top flight where clubs will panic and pay way over the odds in January, but we never got any offer for Jonny that made us think that way.
‘We were keen for him to stay and help us try to win a Scottish Cup and finish second again and reach Europe. Other than winning the Scottish Cup, he played his part in doing that with the understanding he might move in the summer.
‘Kenny is also an international now and he might be one who people really appreciate only when he is not there.
‘I see the quality in the boy. He’s always been a slow starter in seasons. It was a pattern in his three seasons with us. But once he gets into his groove, he is very influential.
‘I’d like more goals and assists and for him to be more influential at the top end of the pitch, but I can play him six, eight or ten and I’d like to get more out of him before he moves on.’