As Celtic take on Ferencvaros tomorrow night as ever there will be a lot of interest in the starting line up as Neil Lennon chooses those players tasked with navigating a tricky looking second round Champions League qualifier against the Hungarian champions. One player who may have a more pressing interest in the team sheets when they are pinned to the wall will be Kris Ajer.
Since Celtic’s Rugby Park draw Ajer has been left out that starting line-up. The first of those wasn’t a huge surprise given KR Reykjavik’s visit to Celtic Park wasn’t expected to be a tough encounter and it’s not Champions League qualifying if Nir Bitton doesn’t get a game at this time of the season, in fact it’s become a bit of a tradition.
Saturday’s game with Dundee United however was a shock when the line-up was announced and once again Ajer was kicking his heels on the bench. He did make it on in the second half as Celtic changed formation however it would appear Lennon has now promoted Nir Bitton ahead of the Norwegian.
More surprising still was that against Reykjavik Jeremie Frimpong was also left out and Hatem abd Elhamed filled in admirably at right back, it could also be argued that bar Moi Elyounoussi that evening Elhamed’s performance was next best. Despite this Frimpong returned to the starting 11 to face Dundee United while Ajer remained side-lined.
It may of course simply be a case of horses for courses in the right back position as Frimpong and Elhamed may indeed rotate depending on the opposition, however Ajer’s extended absence in two consecutive matches seems a strange one.
The defence was indeed in poor form against Kilmarnock yet the player who appeared to struggle the most was Christopher Jullien as he conceded a soft penalty and struggled with Killie’s Nicke Kabamba all afternoon. Yet it appears Ajer has been the fall guy on this occasion.
There could of course be little to be read into this particular dropping out of the team for Ajer. It may well be that Lennon has either seen enough in training and games to feel Bitton deserves an opportunity, or indeed a run of games to ensure he is fit enough should Ajer or Jullien suffer from injury or further poor form. Bitton would then would be up to speed if required, though you’d have to assume should Ajer once again be missing from the starting line-up tomorrow night that there may be more to it all.
Recently Celtic podcast ‘By the min’ was joined by Harry Brady who indicated he’d heard Neil Lennon was far from pleased by up to four Celtic players eyeing possible moves away from the club and perhaps not putting the effort into their game against Killie as would be expected. One of those players mentioned was Kris Ajer. The Celtic Underground Rumours then tweeted last night that Kris Ajer was interesting Liverpool.
That said if you are adding two and two together it’s not quite adding up to four just yet.
The three other players that Brady and the panel discussed on the podcast were Olivier Ntcham, Christie and Edouard. Both Christie and Edouard have since started both games and Ntcham – following an impressive substitute appearance against Reykjavik – found himself in the starting eleven for the game against Dundee United. As such it may be worth taking Harry Brady’s information with a pinch of salt.
However, in the case of Kris Ajer it will be interesting to see if he returns to the starting line-up against Ferecncvaros on Wednesday night. If he doesn’t it’s bound to flag up the possibility of a transfer out of Celtic and that the player is being protected from injury ahead of such a move. Seeing the big Norwegian back in the team should in theory put the rumours to bed.
That said Kris Ajer is a player who appears unlikely to sign a new contract, he has recently moved to a new agent and Peter Lawwell will be watching a player with a diminishing transfer value closely – stung previously as he was with the Dedryck Boyata transfer saga.
If Lawwell, as we are led to believe has no intention of selling Edouard this summer and has received little encouragement from the French strikers’ representatives regarding a one-year extension – even with an offer of a 10% of any future transfer deal sweetener – then a catch 22 situation could arise.
Ajer may need to be sold to avoid two players going into the final year of their contract and Lawwell will be well aware of the public fall out and hindering of the club’s chances this season if French Eddy was sold. It would be further complicated should Celtic not qualify for the Champions’ League group stages and the money that comes with it. On the opposite side of that coin it’s fair to say a Kris Ajer in central defence would be a near necessity if Celtic wish to come through the qualifying stages.
When those team sheets are posted tomorrow night both Ajer and indeed the Celtic support will be a little wiser as to whether there is substance in the rumours that the Norwegian centre half could be heading out of Celtic before the transfer window closes in six weeks’ time.
Niall J
