Celtic have slightly revised their transfer stance on Kristoffer Ajer, with the defender now unhappy with the Hoops hierarchy, according to Football Insider.
The Lowdown: Ajer’s summer so far…
Ajer confirmed to Norwegian media at the start of June that he wanted to leave Celtic Park this summer and move to a top-five European league.
A number of clubs have shown an interest in the centre-back, including Bayer Leverkusen, Brentford, Newcastle United and Norwich City.
The Hoops rejected £10m bids from Leverkusen and Norwich last month and have recently knocked back an offer worth up to £15m from Brentford for the 23-year-old, who has 12 months left on his deal.
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The Latest: Source shares update
Football Insider shared a story on Ajer on Tuesday morning. They were informed by a source who claimed that the Hoops, who did value Ajer at £15m, now want £20m for his services.
The Norwegian has been left furious after Celtic altered their original £15m valuation, and his future is now once again up in the air.
The Verdict: What is McKay doing?
Ajer has made it clear that he wants to leave the club, and with time running out before Ange Postecoglou’s first competitive game in charge of Celtic, surely it would have made sense to accept Brentford’s bid worth £15m and reinvest in the squad with those funds.
He has just 12 months to go on his contract, and you’d expect that CEO Dominic McKay would be at the heart of decisions on Ajer’s future with no director of football in place.
The defender is becoming even more unsettled in Glasgow, so should his situation remain the same beyond the transfer window, Celtic will have an unhappy player on their hands who could agree on a free transfer in January with clubs outside of Scotland. That would be a far from ideal scenario given that they could easily reap an eight-figure fee by sanctioning his sale now.
In other news: Fabrizio Romano claims Celtic are keen on £2.5k-p/w French ace, find out more here.