Sold for £2.5m, now worth £8.1m: Celtic had a shocker on "ferocious" £23k-p/w talent - opinion

Celtic‘s recent dealings in the transfer market proved a key factor in the club’s return to Scottish Premiership glory, with manager Ange Postecoglou proving himself something of a master when it comes to recruiting new talent.

While Hoops’ supporters can likely have little complaint with the title-winning manager at present, one decision that both he – and the club – may be regretting is the sale of midfielder Ryan Christie, with the Scotsman having shone since his move to Bournemouth last summer.

Although the decision was largely taken out of Postecoglou’s hands – with just a year (or less) remaining on the 28-cap international’s contract – the former Yokohama boss may well have been regretting not pushing harder to keep his former asset at the club.

The 5 foot 10 playmaker had been plucked from Inverness Caledonian Thistle for just £500k in the summer of 2015, going on to win a plethora of silverware over the next few years and establishing himself as a regular at international level.

Despite starting the 2021/22 campaign as part of the Old Firm outfit’s squad – notably registering a hat-trick of assists in a 6-0 thrashing of Dundee – speculation was rife over his future due to his contract situation, before he eventually signed for the Cherries on a £2.5m deal on deadline day.

While the club were able to earn a tidy profit on his initial fee, losing such a key player late in the window was no doubt a significant blow, while the small nature of the fee seemingly did not reflect the quality of the player.

That has been made evidently clear with the 27-year-old recently enjoying a rise in valuation, as per Transfermarkt, with the player now worth £8.1m, having been valued at just £6.3m back in May 2021.

That ascent has