ANDONI Iraola is hopeful Cherries and Ryan Christie can find an agreement to extend his contract with the club, insisting: “He is the kind of character that is good for a team.”

Scotland international Christie is in the final year of his current deal with the club, having arrived from Celtic in August 2021.

He helped the club clinch promotion from the Championship in his first season, but fell out of favour midway through last campaign.

However, Gary O’Neil would recall the midfielder to the line-up, Christie impressing and playing a key role in keeping Cherries in the Premier League.

He has continued his fine form into the start of this season, establishing himself as a key man under new boss Iraola, featuring in all five games and scoring the winner in last week’s Carabao Cup win at Swansea City.

In total, Christie has now made 80 appearances for Cherries, scoring six goals and providing nine assists.

Speaking to the Daily Echo in July, new dad Christie expressed his desire to stay at Vitality Stadium, feeling settled on the south coast.

He said: “No discussions yet, but I’m more than happy (here).

“Especially with the baby now, I love living in Bournemouth. It’s a great place to stay and my family is nice and settled as well.

“My main hope is to impress the new boss as much as I can. If that leads to talks about a new contract, so be it.

“I’ll be looking forward to that hopefully.”

Christie is currently away on international duty with Scotland, looking to boost their qualification hopes for Euro 2024 with victory in Cyprus tomorrow.

Giving his assessment of Christie’s performances so far this season, Iraola told the Daily Echo: “I think Ryan gives us a lot of things.

“Tactically he is very smart, he runs a lot, he covers a lot of space.

“One of the things he needs to improve, and he knows, is this finishing touch, to arrive close to the box. To be brave to shoot.

“Because he has a good shot. Sometimes he is always looking for the last pass, another assist and maybe he has to be more aggressive.

“It is good news that he scored the other day.”

Asked for an update on the 28-year-old’s contract situation and if he would like to see him extend his stay, Iraola said: “I think everyone is happy with his performance.

“Everyone is very happy with his attitude. I think he is the kind of character that is good for a team.

“For sure, if he is performing this way, he will be with us if he wants, for more time.”