Kristoffer Ajer has revealed that he was watched 123 times playing for Celtic by his new club before Brentford made their move to sign the Norwegian International defender.
Speaking in an interview on Norwegian channel TV 2, the order Celtic star revealed: “They said that they had been to 123 games of Celtic’s and provided feedback on which ones were green and approved, and which ones were red and unacceptable.
“They analyse everything. What I liked about this club compared to the others, was that they said that there was a lot of exciting things about me they were interested in, but also that I had to improve a lot.”
And Ajer also revealed that Brentford Number 2, Brian Riemer is constantly in contact with him to talk about ways to improve his game despite Ajer making a great start to his career at the newly promoted English Premier League side.
“He often sends me messages during the week: ‘Have you seen this situation? What happened there? What can you do differently?’ Ajer said. “Then it’s straight in and find out what situations he’s talking about. He thinks football 24/7.”
Over the past few weeks Ajer has taken some stick for constantly remarking that he wasn’t pushed or challenged enough playing at Celtic – that agenda having previously come from the Norwegian international manager. But it’s water under the bridge as far as Celtic are concerned and Ajer represents yet another example of Celtic players going to England and proving to be excellent value for money for the clubs signing these players from our club.
That breeds confidence for others to follow in their footsteps and so keeps the show on the road as far as selling off our best players. It’s the way of the world, needs must and all that but after the cash register ringing from the sale of the want aways (Ajer, Edouard and Christie) there are fewer players left with high sell-on values. That matters.