Having seen three players sign new contracts with the club recently, Celtic are hopeful that one of their main defenders will soon follow suit.
Football Insider reported that the Hoops are set to give Kristoffer Ajer a new deal worth £25,000 per week in an effort to convince him to stay at Parkhead.
According to Football Insider, discussions between the player and club have commenced, with Celtic hoping that terms can be agreed before the January transfer window begins.
Celtic are in the midst of convincing several first team squad members to commit their future to the club, having seen James Forrest, Scott Bain and Callum McGregor all signing new deals in recent days.
Now they have their sights set on Ajer, who is currently contracted to the club until 2022 after signing a four-year deal in May 2018, as per BBC.
The 21-year-old defender has attracted interest from clubs around Europe over the last few months, with Tuttomercatoweb claiming [via Daily Record] that AC Milan had targeted him during the summer.
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Just this week, the Daily Record reported that Leicester were considering a £20m bid for the Norway international, who worked under Foxes manager Brendan Rodgers at Celtic.
Ajer has been a firm favourite of Neil Lennon, starting all but two games this season and being ever-present in their Europa League group stage campaign. [via TransferMarkt]
He delivered another strong performance in last night’s win over Lazio, winning six aerial duels and two tackles [via WhoScored], with a few reporters commending his display in Rome.
The Scottish Sun‘s David Friel said that a “terrific tackle” denied Lazio a second goal and that he played a “huge role” in the win, while Ryan Brown of Read Celtic felt that it was his “best game in a while as he dealt with everything pretty comfortably”.
Ajer’s impressive display against Lazio last night illustrated why he is a near-constant presence in Lennon’s line-up, whether that’s at centre-back or the right-hand side of defence.
Having seen several of his team-mates commit their futures to the club, and with Celtic progressing in Europe by showing that they can beat teams from one of the continent’s top leagues away from home, the Norwegian may feel that the Hoops are on an upward curve and therefore decide to stick around and be a part of it instead of being tempted away by foreign suitors.
Celtic fans, are you confident that Ajer will commit his future to the club if he is offered a new deal? Share your views in the comments section below!
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