After retaining the services of his key men, Neil Lennon has a new fight on his hands, keeping the players who were eyeing up potential moves away happy.
Olivier Ntcham and Kris Ajer were the two players said to be the subject of late bids with reports claiming that Celtic had rejected offers for both players in the closing hours of the transfer window.
AC Milan reportedly bid for the big Norwegian and, according to The Daily Record, both Bordeaux and Brest made deadline day enquiries for the French youth international.
No deals were entertained by the Hoops hierarchy given how little time there would have been to replace key components of the dominant Celtic side of the last few seasons.
Earlier in the window, the gaffer spoke of how frustrated he had become with some of the players in his first-team squad with speculation surround several stars following the Champions League exit to Ferencvaros:
“If some of you don’t want to be here then leave, and then, you know, let us work with players who want to be here.”
And when asked if he thought that some of his players didn’t want to be at the club, he said:
“In some cases. I don’t know about recruitment, it’s not at the forefront of my thinking at the minute.”
He has subsequently been able to galvanise his squad but it will be interesting to see how committed the likes of Ntcham and Ajer are, given that they have already had their mentality questioned and their representatives have asked for valuations so that they can speak to other clubs.
Should Celtic have sold Ntcham and Ajer?
Yes
No
Celtic undoubtedly have the strongest squad in the league, keeping them happy is Lennon’s job, if they are winning every week, the task should be a lot easier, with the small matter of a treble from last season to finish off in the coming weeks – another trophy in the cabinet would certainly help to keep them interested, in the short term at least.