Caley Thistle goalkeeper Owain Fon Williams is not surprised Ryan Christie is in hot demand as the 20-year-old reminds him of a young Gareth Bale.
Wales international Bale moved from Tottenham to Real Madrid for £85million two years ago, while Christie looks set to depart the Caledonian Stadium for a fraction of that price.
Celtic have bid £500,000 with the possibility of the attacking midfielder being loaned back to Caley Thistle for the remainder of the season.
But Fon Williams, who is part of the Wales squad for their upcoming double header against Cyprus and Israel, believes the Hoops would be getting a bargain.
He said: “There should be more teams than Celtic interested. Ryan actually reminds me a little bit of Gareth Bale when he was very young. That is not a bad compliment when you consider Gareth is the world’s most expensive footballer.
“He is something special. At training we see he is different class. I do believe there are some similarities with Gareth Bale when he was at Southampton and then he pushed on at Spurs. Who knows what will happen to Ryan Christie? Hopefully he will stay because he is a pleasure to play with and a pleasure to work with.”
The 28-year-old goalkeeper believes Christie has the talent required to play at the highest level and said: “With the right work and the right people around him why can’t he?
“Gareth Bale started off at Southampton and worked his way to the very top. It is about developing physically and learning about the game. Ryan is a youngster. He will learn a lot in the coming years and hopefully develop into some player.”
Fon Williams was disappointed his side were denied a first victory of the season by Dundee on Saturday.
David Raven gave Caley Thistle the lead before the goalkeeper saved a Greg Stewart penalty with seven minutes remaining.
But Kane Hemmings rescued a point for the Dark Blues with an added time goal, leaving the Caley Jags with only three points from the opening six matches.
Fon Williams added: “Sometimes you can get carried away looking at that table. I don’t look at it as it is too early, but there is also no point hiding from it.
“We are working hard and it will come. We just need to sharpen up the little things and be a bit more organised. When we learn how to manage a lead and see a game through we will be all right.”