ASTON VILLA are prepared to unite Ryan Christie with his worldwide team-mate John McGinn.
SunSport understands Villa boss Unai Emery holds a long-time curiosity in Scotland star Christie.
The ex-Celtic ace has only one yr left on his Bournemouth deal after one other glowing season.
Cherries chief Andoni Iraola — an enormous fan of Christie — is leaving to get replaced by German coach Marco Rose.
And it’s understood Emery is monitoring developments on the south coast with a view to stepping up curiosity in Christie this summer.
He has performed nearly 200 video games in 5 years at Bournemouth and been a mainstay in their push for European qualification this season.
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Christie can also be a primary choose for Scotland gaffer Steve Clarke, having racked up 66 caps and 9 targets to date for his nation.
The 31-year-old is for certain of a spot in Clarke’s 26-man squad for the World Cup finals in the United States, the place they may play Haiti, Morocco and Brazil in Group C.
Clarke continues to use Christie in an attacking position, whereas Iraola has deployed him deeper in the Cherries’ midfield.
It’s understood that flexibility is a part of the attraction for Emery, who additionally recognises the Scot’s shut friendship with Villa skipper McGinn.
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Christie got here via the youth set-up at hometown membership Inverness Caley Thistle earlier than transferring to Celtic in 2015.
He additionally had two mortgage spells at Aberdeen earlier than sealing his transfer south in 2021.
Christie has made 25 appearances to date for the Cherries this season, scoring twice.
Both of these targets got here in the Premier League and the Vitality Stadium facet occupy seventh spot in the desk, which might see them qualify for the Europa Conference League play-off spherical.
It would mark Bournemouth’s first ever foray into European competitors.
Aston Villa in the meantime are in fifth place and concentrating on one other run in the Champions League.
The Villans had been knocked out by PSG final season and are at present in the semi-finals of the Europa League, going through EPL rivals Nottingham Forest.
McGinn, 31, has been with the West Midlands membership since 2018.
He and Christie have performed collectively for Scotland on 51 events.
Keep up to date with ALL the latest news and transfers at the Scottish Sun football page
