CHERRIES' deadline-day recruit Ryan Christie revealed the club tried to sign him many years ago.

Christie, 26, completed a £2.5million move to the south coast club from Celtic yesterday.

The midfielder has enjoyed a stellar career north of the border.

After winning the Scottish Cup with boyhood club Inverness Caledonian Thistle, Christie was snapped up by Celtic in 2015, going on to win successive domestic trebles.

He has also featured regularly in the Champions League and Europa League, including appearances in those competitions already this season.

But he has now left all that behind to ply his trade outside of Scotland for the first time, admitting a move to Cherries could have even come sooner.

Speaking to Cherries' club website, Christie said: "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."

He added: “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.

"It was about sitting down and weighing up my options, but I came to the decision that I was desperate to try this challenge and it’s the perfect time for me to try it.

“I wanted to put as a big priority moving to a team where I thought I’d fit in and it would suit my style of play. After speaking to the manager and keeping a close eye on Bournemouth in the last few weeks and games I really got that feeling."

Despite feeling like a move to Cherries is an ideal fit, Christie admits he has never visited the south coast town.

The Inverness-born ace completed his medical and signed the necessary forms in Scotland, before heading off with the national team to Denmark for an upcoming World Cup qualifier.

“I’ve never been to Bournemouth,” he said.

“Everyone’s been in my ear since the news saying what a lovely place it is, I’m looking forward to eventually getting down there and maybe getting a bit of sun after so much time freezing up in Scotland.

"A few of the boys away here with Scotland are pally with a few of the boys at Bournemouth and have passed on how much they rave about it and are positive, that obviously helps when you hear so many people saying good things.

“Moving to England will be tough, but the one positive in this stage of my career is with what I’ve achieved so far. I’ve had the opportunity before in my younger days to head down and give England a try, but I’ve now got much more confidence in myself in coming and feeling ready for it."