---
title: "Exclusive: Ex-Newcastle United defender says Kristoffer Ajer would’ve been a risk"
canonical: "https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/exclusive-ex-newcastle-united-defender-says-kristoffer-ajer-wouldve-been-a-risk-transfers-rumour-celtic-brentford-steve-bruce-e173/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Caleb Sage"
section: "Exclusive"
published: "2021-07-17T06:30:48Z"
modified: "2021-07-17T06:30:48Z"
---

# Exclusive: Ex-Newcastle United defender says Kristoffer Ajer would’ve been a risk

**Signing Kristoffer Ajer would have been a risk for Newcastle United, says the club’s former defender, Steve Howey.**

Ajer was thought to be Steve Bruce’s top defensive target this summer, but the Newcastle boss will now have to look elsewhere following Brentford’s £13.5m deal with Celtic for the central defender ([per The Northern Echo](https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/19445564.brentford-beat-newcastle-signing-celtics-kristoffer-ajer/)).

Last season, the Magpies had one of the worst defensive records in the Premier League. In their 38 games, they conceded 62 goals, one less than bottom-placed side Sheffield United ([via WhoScored](https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/252/Tournaments/2/England-Premier-League)).

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Bearing that in mind, losing out on a defensive target like Ajer will come as a huge blow to Bruce.

From Howey’s perspective, though, with the Norway international coming from the Scottish Premiership, he would have been a huge risk for Newcastle.

*“He’s a big, strong boy, but will he be able to cope with the Premier League?”* Howey said in an exclusive interview with **TT**. *“I don’t know. It’s kind of a risk.*

*“Could Newcastle afford to pay that for somebody who’s not tested in the Premier League? He might be a signing where he comes down and he’s absolutely amazing and it’s just like wow, unbelievable money spent.*

*“But again, they can’t afford to have somebody that maybe starts the season and all of a sudden needs a transitional period. You can’t allow players to bed in, certainly Newcastle can’t. They can’t carry that.”*

With the Scottish Premiership obviously not being the strongest division in European football, it is easy to see why some would have their doubts about recruiting from there, though [Bruce did seem to be convinced](https://www.thenorthernecho.co.uk/sport/19445564.brentford-beat-newcastle-signing-celtics-kristoffer-ajer/) by Ajer.