Celtic fans have been given a potential boost in Neil Lennon’s efforts to retain one of his star players going into one of the biggest season’s in the club’s history, after leaked footage of the club’s Adidas photo shoot revealed that Kristoffer Ajer was one of the models for the new kits.
Football Insider reported the story and with speculation surrounding the towering centre-half since before the winter break, it now looks as though his future – for now – is at Parkhead, a player itching for the exit door would be far from happy being used as a clothes horse.
Leicester City had been rumoured to be preparing a bid for the Norwegian international with a valuation north of £20million, however, they may have to look elsewhere if Lennon has persuaded him to stick around for 10-in-a-row.
After Jozo Simunovic’s surprise exit from Celtic earlier in the window, the Hoops were starting to look bare on the ground in terms of central defensive options, especially given the speculation surrounding Ajer, but it now looks as though the base of last season’s title triumph will still be available for selection next year with just one position still uncertain.
The future of Fraser Forster’s proposed return changes by the day and although a deal had appeared to be completely dead just a matter of days ago, The Sun has reported that Celtic are still confident of, not only getting him back up the road, but of securing a permanent deal for the giant stopper in what would be a huge boost given their current goalkeeper crisis.
As was the case when preparations for 2020/21 began, retaining key players has always been Lennon’s main priority and it looks as though he is gradually ticking them off one by one in what would be a real statement of intent as Celtic look to continue their unprecedented domestic dominance of football in Scotland.