Could Kristoffer Ajer’s AIK display force Celtic to reconsider reported Omar Elabdellaoui interest?

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Kristoffer Ajer shone for Celtic as the Scottish Premiership champions beat AIK Stockholm in a Europa League qualifier – what about Omar Elabdellaoui.

Whisper it but maybe Celtic don’t need to invest in a new right-back before the transfer window slams shut at the end of August.

According to the Scottish Daily Mail (17 August, back page), The Hoops were considering a £4 million bid for Olympiakos’s Norwegian international Omar Elabdellaoui.

A natural-born leader who captained his club to a 4-0 Champions League play-off win against Krasnodar this week, Elabdellaoui is dynamic, attack-minded and backs up his talent with end product too. He produced five goals and seven assists for Olympiakos throughout an impressive 2018/19 campaign.

So it’s fair to say he ticks a lot of boxes for a Celtic side who, under Neil Lennon, rely upon their full-backs to provide plenty of creativity in the final third. Elabdellaoui isn’t a stranger to British football either, learning his trade at Manchester City before a short-term loan spell at Hull in 2017.

But a faultless performance from Kristoffer Ajer in Thursday’s 2-0 Europa League qualifying victory over AIK Stockholm might have just given Celtic food for thought with days until the end of the window.

A centre-half by trade, Hoops fans may have groaned in unison when the team-sheet revealed that Ajer would be starting on the right. But, as it transpired, they needn’t have worried.

Because while Ajer is hardly the typical full-back with his rangy 6ft 4ins frame, it seems that the most talented young defender in Scotland is as comfortable on the flanks as he is in the centre.

The 20-year-old was a revelation in an unfamiliar role against a team who won the Swedish top-flight last season, typically solid in defence while providing his fair share of quality going forward too.

Now, we’re not saying that Ajer should be Celtic’s number one right-back now or in the near future. But his new-found versatility could provide the requisite competition for Hatem Abd Elhamed while allowing The Hoops invest their remaining funds elsewhere.