Celtic have rejected bids of £10m from Bayer Leverkusen and Norwich City for Kris Ajer. The Athletic’s Kieran Devlin is reporting that the Norwegian is unhappy that these bids have been rejected given that the player is in his final year of his contract. The central defender has publicly stated that he sees his future away from Celtic and it is believed that the club are happy to sell if the right offer comes in.
Along with Premier League new-boys Norwich, Ajer has been linked with RB Leipzig and Newcastle but Leverkusen appeared to be the most favourable destination – with Jeremie Frimpong swapping Paradise for the Bundesliga earlier this year.
Ajer, 23, scored the penalty that sealed the Quadruple Treble and won Players’ Player of the Year last season but showed defensive frailties over the course of the campaign. He is an intelligent defender that has bags of untapped potential but he clearly sees himself in a ‘Top 5 League’ after a successful spell at Celtic.
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Ajer joined Celtic from IK Start in 2016 for £500,000 as a midfielder; however, Brendan Rodgers retrained the youngster as a central defender and he went out on loan to prove his worth. The Norwegian became a first team regular striking up a partnership with Dedryck Boyata and impressing in the centre of defence. He has since gone from strength to strength only to plateau this season, likely because of the quality of players around him in defence.
Celtic may be willing to hold off selling Ajer until they identify a replacement with Mario Vuskovic of Hajduk Split linked with a move. The club need to sign a couple central defenders and Vuskovic and a move for Erik Sviatchenko could be in the club’s best interests as Ange Postecoglou looks to rebuild ahead of the new season.