Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer is attracting a lot of attention after a stunning season with the Scottish Premiership side.
Any Celtic fan would have largely been forgiven for forgetting all about Kristoffer Ajer before the start of this season, with the £500,000 signing making just one appearance in all competitions for the Hoops during his first campaign with the club. The fact that he was not a Brendan Rodgers signing seemed set to not help his cause.
And while it took a while before the Norwegian was featuring regularly this term, there is no question that he has to be considered one of the finds of the season for Celtic having been simply fantastic in recent months.
The 19-year-old appears capable of taking every challenge in his stride and Rodgers is clearly hoping that he can be a mainstay of the side for years to come, with The Scottish Sun reporting last month that the Bhoys want to hand the teenager a new long-term contract.
Unfortunately, Celtic’s best kept secret is no longer a secret it seems. TEAMtalk recently reported that Borussia Dortmund, Tottenham Hotspur and Southampton are all keen on the defender. And given how impressive he has been lately, it would be little surprise if several other teams followed suit and made their own moves at the end of the season.
Ajer would be forgiven for finding all three options tempting as Spurs, the Saints and Dortmund each have a fantastic record for bringing young players through.
And that fact would make it all the more impressive if Celtic managed to convince Ajer to ignore all of the interest coming from elsewhere and put pen to paper on that long-term deal at Parkhead.
It would send out an incredible statement to potential Celtic targets as well as the key players already at the club regarding the direction the club is heading in – especially after a season which has been more underwhelming than Rodgers’ first year with the Hoops.
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