Celtic hope to pen Ryan Christie to a new deal | OneFootball

At half-time with the score at 0-0, Brendan Rodgers opted to make one substitution: Ryan Christie came on for Olivier Ntcham.

It was a stroke of genius.

The 23-year-old Christie, who is in the last year of his contract, won a penalty seven minutes later which Scott Sinclair converted to give Celtic the lead.

Christie then took further advantage of chance to impress the former Liverpool boss by assisting the second goal and scoring the third and final goal of the match.

After the performance, Rodgers hailed the midfielder and told reporters they are indeed attempting to sign Christie to a new deal.

“He’s someone that, of course, we would look to commit to. The club have been talking to his representatives but I’m not aware of any movement. I tend to focus on working with the players,” Rodgers told The Herald Scotland.

“He is in the last year but we have had other players like Stuart Armstrong. My focus is on making them better as players, giving them a future here to be involved and be a part of.

“Hopefully then the other stuff can sort itself out. He is definitely a player that we would love to keep. He is a fantastic player.

“You saw his contribution today. You saw it Aberdeen when he was there. It was step-by-step but now is 23.

“He is at a really good age to come in and have the personality to play at a big club. He did well against Leipzig so he can make a valuable contribution to this team.”