Leicester City have been linked with a move for Celtic midfielder Ryan Christie as the summer transfer window starts to take shape.

What's the story?

According to the Scottish Daily Mail, the Foxes have joined Ligue 1 duo Nice and Monaco in the race to secure the 26-year-old's signature.

Christie has just 6 months remaining on his current contract at Celtic Park and, therefore, could be available for a bargain price over the coming months.

Leicester must swoop

Leicester manager Brendan Rodgers has previously worked with the Scotland international during his two-and-a-half-year spell north of the border, so he will know all about the qualities that Christie possesses.

In 142 appearances for the Hoops, the creative talent has bagged 40 goals and provided a further 41 assists, collecting six major trophies along the way.

His impressive performances for the Glasgow giants have earned praise from several plaudits, including Chris Sutton, who praised his "ferocious workrate" in a column last year.

With the Midlands outfit qualifying for next season's Europa League, Rodgers is looking to add some strength in depth to his first-team squad, and Christie could provide just that.

After recording 2.1 key passes per league game in 2020/21, the £6.3 million rated gem outperformed Leicester's key attacking midfielder James Maddison in that metric after he managed just 1.6.

Christie also outperformed the Englishman in terms of dribbles and shots per league game, tallying 1.2 and 2.8 to Maddison's 0.9 and 2.4, respectively.

While many may understandably point to the disparity in opposition that the two players faced in the recently concluded campaign, these figures are evidence that Christie is ready to make the step up and could compete at a higher level.

However, if Rodgers wants to be reunited with his former star, then he may have to move quickly. Nice had an £8m offer rejected in January and are expected to revive their interest.

Christie will be the second player that the Northern Irish tactician has tried to sign from his former side this summer after becoming frustrated in his pursuit of Odsonne Edouard.

He'll be hoping that it's a case of second time lucky when he returns for Christie, and the Scotsman could provide the extra quality Rodgers to take Leicester into the Champions League.

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