Bournemouth have begun talks with Ryan Christie over a new contract.
As reported by The Scottish Sun, Bournemouth are currently working on tying down Ryan Christie to a new contract.
There was a delay to the talks commencing, which cast some doubt over Christie’s future at the Vitality Stadium, but it now seems that Andoni Iraola is convinced of the player’s ability to contribute for the Cherries this season.
Christie was always clear that his preference was to remain with Bournemouth for the long haul. In an interview with the Daily Echo, the Scottish attacking midfielder said, “my main hope is to impress the new boss as much as I can. If that leads to talks about a new contract, so be it. I’ll be looking forward to that hopefully.”
Bournemouth paid around £2.5 million to prise Christie away from Celtic in the summer of 2021. The 28-year-old had enjoyed a trophy-laden stint with the Hoops, and enjoyed a fine start to life with the south coast club, helping them to earn promotion to the Premier League at the end of his first season.
Christie to play an important role
Christie continued to be a regular for the Cherries under Gary O’Neil last season, but struggled for end product in the top flight. He only managed one goal and one assist in 32 Premier League outings last time out.
Despite a new contract seemingly being on the cards, Christie may find Premier League starts harder to come by under Iraola. The arrivals of Hamed Traore, Romain Faivre, and Justin Kluivert may have nudged Christie down the pecking order. However, Iraola will recognise that having quality strength in depth will be vital for Bournemouth this season and keeping Christie on the books will help to provide that.
If a contract for him can get sorted quickly then that will be good news for the club, with a tough season ahead. Christie himself will then be keen to repay that faith on the pitch and improve on his showing last time out.