Celtic boss Neil Lennon has revealed that he wanted to sign Ryan Christie when he was the manager of Hibernian.

Last summer, Celtic were heavily interested in signing John McGinn from Hibs. Lennon wanted Celtic to inclide Christie as a part of the deal.

The 24-year-old at that time was struggling to get into Brendan Rodgers’s side, and was facing an uncertain future at the club.

The midfielder was thinking of leaving the Bhoys and the Scottish champions felt it would have suited all parties involved.

However, Aston Villa signed McGinn and Christie stayed on at Celtic Park.

Christie looked set for the exit door but now he has become a key player for the Bhoys over the last six months.  Lennon is glad that the transfer didn’t happen.

“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,” said Lennon to the Scottish Sun.

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

Christie scored twice in Celtic’s 5-0 win over Nomme Kalju last week. Lennon has further added that Christie works extremely hard in training and that he makes the side better.