AIK sport director confirms making contact with Celtic’s Mikael Lustig

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Mikael Lustig is out of contract at Celtic at the end of the season, and AIK are interested in bringing him back to Sweden.

In comments reported by Fotboll Direkt, AIK sporting director Bjorn Wesstrom has confirmed that he has been in contact with Celtic defender Mikael Lustig, but admitted that they are not close to agreeing anything with the right-back.

Lustig’s future at Parkhead remains a talking point, with Fotboll Direkt reporting that he is out of contract with the Scottish Premiership champions at the end of the season.

The 32-year-old has played a more prominent role with Celtic since Neil Lennon returned as boss, but there has been no indication of whether he will be kept on beyond this season. But if he does go, it appears that he will definitely have offers on the table, with Wesstrom suggesting that they have discussed a potential deal.

“I have admitted that I have talked to Mikael Lustig. We are not so close right now. If it is close then you discuss details and plans and you talk to the coach and there we are not yet,” he told Fotboll Direkt.

“What he needs to decide for first and foremost is whether he should remain in Celtic or not and I understand that they have a job to do, Celtic and he. When they have then decided on his future – then we should evaluate how our interest looks.”

Celtic letting Lustig go would potentially be a gamble. He has not been the player that was one of the first names on the teamsheet for several years at Parkhead, but there appears to be no guarantee that replacing him will be an easy task.

Cristian Gamboa, Anthony Ralston and Jeremy Toljan have either struggled or been overlooked throughout the campaign. Lustig has arguably been the best performer of the quartet, and his experience could be beneficial when the manager weighs up his options ahead of next season.

Ideally, Celtic will sign a better player to be first-choice next term. But having Lustig in the ranks would arguably be a very good decision from the Bhoys.