The relationship between club sides and international sides is often a tricky one, mainly because they tend to want different things.
A national team boss is always going to want their players to play at the highest level and they’ll want them to participate in every international break, but club sides would rather they get some rest and they certainly don’t need their players being told to move on.
Unfortunately that’s currently happening with Kristoffer Ajer after the Norway boss Stale Solbakken has urged him to leave the club this summer (quotes from The Daily Record)
“He has to change league now. He must. He does not have enough challenges in everyday life there.
“I think he has got some habits which you do not notice until he meets better opposition in international matches or Europe. So I think that would be a smart move by him.
“He should go to one of the five major leagues. He has the prerequisites to play in all those leagues. I’m calm about that.”
It’s an interesting one because deep down we probably realise that he’s right and Ajer needs to move on to a higher level to continue his development, but it’s risky for a national manager to get involved like this.
It sends an uneasy message to clubs if you’re dishing out transfer advice, so Celtic are well within their rights to be unhelpful towards him if any help or advice is ever needed.
Ajer is a key part of the Norway team so there’s no chance that he gets dropped from the squad if he doesn’t leave, but it looks like Solbakken just wants to see him improve further.
The report does confirm that his contract is up in 2022 so this looks like the last chance for Celtic to get a reasonable fee for him, while comments like this from the Norway boss just make his departure seem almost inevitable.
