I've pointed to the facts there are many links on the internet suggesting that a deal was close.
It came up again with Greg Stewart and why they prioritised Christie over Stewart because they thought they were close to completing the deal.
There is not one response to such claims clarifying otherwise or refuting the reports.
Evidence enough for me to suggest that we were close.
Not that it matters as we know that as a result of what happened at Celtic, the deal did not go through.
Hardly
Evidently he was in the building, so he was much closer that you are now or indeed have been of late
McInnes said: “Ryan was a big player for me at Aberdeen. His intention was to try and be good enough and to be ready to go back and compete and play more regularly for Celtic and he has played a big part in a resurgence of Celtic results over the last month or so. I think like any youngster it is about making the most of your opportunity and he has had to wait, but some things are worth waiting for. For what I have seen he has been very influential and has been scoring goals so he is now doing for Celtic what he was doing for us on loan. Good on him because he is such a brilliant boy. He works extremely hard and it is good to see his patience and determination rewarded.”
Rodgers said: “I can’t blame Derek for wanting to have a player of that quality, of course, but it’s not a discussion really. The plan was always for Ryan to come back. I looked at it last summer after he’d spent six months on loan to Aberdeen, working with Derek at a fantastic club, under pressure, and asked, ‘Is it better him to play 40-plus games for them or play between five and 10 for me?' He’s needed the development. And that plan hasn’t changed for me. We had a call back in January if we’d wanted him but I always felt a year playing out, working on his game and his physical strength, on preparing week in week out for games would benefit him and benefit Celtic and I believe he has made the most of that.o the plan will be for him to come back and reintegrate into the squad here over the summer and he has a year left on his contract so we’ll look at it from there.”