Caley Thistle are in line to receive a six-figure fee as a result of Ryan Christie’s £2.5 million move from Celtic to Bournemouth.
Midfielder Christie left the Hoops on transfer deadline day to join the English Championship club on a three-year deal, having also attracted interest from Premier League side Burnley.
Another one through the door 😏
Ryan Christie is an #afcb player 🤝 pic.twitter.com/96ljTsFG1l
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) August 31, 2021
The move came six years after the 27-year-old left Inverness to join the Parkhead outfit in a £500,000 switch shortly after helping his hometown club win the Scottish Cup.
Caley Jags inserted a sell-on clause as part of that deal in 2015, with his latest move coming as a welcome boost to the Championship club given the prospect of Christie allowing his Celtic contract to run down to its expiry in December.
Celtic must now provide Inverness with a deal sheet specifying what they will be due, in line with the parts of the contract which apply to the Highlanders.
Although the structure of Bournemouth’s deal with Celtic is not publicly known, Caley Thistle’s sell-on clause will apply to all future add-ons which are triggered.
In addition to the sell-on fee, Caley Jags will also receive a solidarity payment which is based on the number of years a player spends at a club.
The eight-year period in which Christie was at Caley Jags will be factored into the percentage Caley Jags are due of the payment, which will be made over three years. The solidarity payment will also apply to any future transfer he makes.
Inverness were among a number of clubs who benefitted similarly from Stuart Armstrong’s £7 million transfer from Celtic to Southampton in 2018, although the payment only factored in a 12-month stint he spent in the youth ranks at Caledonian Stadium.
Christie, who was involved in Scotland’s World Cup qualifier against Denmark in Copenhagen last night, said the move to the Cherries fulfilled a career-long ambition to play in England.
The former Aberdeen loanee revealed the move to the south coast of England could have materialised much earlier, with Bournemouth having shown interest during his time with Inverness prior to him joining Celtic.
Great to have you with us, Ryan! 🤩 pic.twitter.com/IbEKsOicEL
— AFC Bournemouth 🍒 (@afcbournemouth) August 31, 2021
In an interview with the Bournemouth website, Christie said: “Throughout my whole career I’ve always wanted to try my hand down in England and I’m really excited to join a team who’s going for promotion, going out to win games and achieve success. I’m used to that at Celtic so hopefully I can help bring that to Bournemouth.
“The attraction was a bit of everything. It sounds a bit crazy but I’ve actually had an affection for Bournemouth for years now. Believe it not Bournemouth put a bid in for me back in my Inverness days as a really young player. You could say I’ve looked out for the club for a good few years now.
“As soon as I heard the club were an option, I managed to speak to Scott Parker and with the way he spoke, he’s a big encouragement in terms of the brand of football and the way his teams play.
“From watching what he did with Fulham and then seeing him come to Bournemouth I think I’m taking a big step in the right direction.
“The whole feeling of it was right and even though I did have a couple of other options this was the one that I was just desperate to get over the line.”