‘Different class’: Reported Tottenham target has been compared to Virgil van Dijk

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Tottenham Hotspur reportedly want to bring Celtic’s Scottish Premiership winner Kristoffer Ajer to the Premier League this summer.

The similarities between Kristoffer Ajer and Virgil van Dijk go beyond their fearsome physical presence.

Like Liverpool’s £75 million superstar, arguably the best centre-half the world has seen in the last ten years, Celtic’s Norwegian wonderkid has everything in his locker to establish himself among the elite.

With his 6ft 4ins frame, Ajer dominates opposition forwards not just with his sky-scraping frame but also his speed across the ground and expert reading of the game.

And, between just you and us, Ajer might just be a little more adaptable than a flying Dutchman who, once upon a time, was patrolling the Parkhead pitch like a Rolls Royce with a fresh set of alloys.

Equally comfortable at centre-half and right-back, Ajer’s ability to fill in on the flanks is just one of many reasons why Tottenham, according to Sporten, are set to make a summer move for a man who is all-but certain to follow Van Dijk to England this summer.

At least, according to his agent.

Now, it’s perhaps a little unfair for Tottenham fans to immediately start demanding Van Dijk-like performances from a man who, for now at least, spends most Saturdays up against Ross County or St Mirren.

But the comparisons exist for a good reason.

‘He’s different class’

“He can play centre-back, right-back, he’s so composed and so good. For such a young lad, the world is at his feet,” Leigh Griffiths, who played alongside both Van Dijk and Ajer at Celtic, told the Sun recently.

“He can go all the way as long as he keeps his feet on the ground. He’s different class. Does he remind me of Van Dijk? Yeah, but I don’t think Virgil would have been happy to play at right-back, whereas the big man just strolls up the flank.

“It’s like four or five strides and he’s in the penalty box from our half. He’s so fit and athletic going forward and, as we saw, he can play right-back and it doesn’t bother him a bit.”

While Van Dijk arrived at Anfield via a fine spell at Southampton, Tottenham look set to cut out the middle man with Ajer’s price-tag likely to be a fraction of the then-world record £75 million fee Liverpool splashed out two years ago.