The Daily Record has reported on AC Milan’s interest in Kristoffer Ajer with the Italian giant’s Director of Football and all round legend, Paulo Maldini, confirming that the Norwegian international is on their list of targets.
There has been a series of rumours concerning the centre-half’s future at Celtic with talk of a £14million bid from the Serie A side rubbished by Neil Lennon at the weekend, however, the Rossoneri’s chief has made it clear that a central defender remains a priority for his side:
“As a manager there is always room to learn and improve. The proclamations have been talking about Champions for many years but we haven’t been there for seven years.
“We have an idea of how to build the team. We also look at the budget and the amount of wages. We are consistent with what we did last year. We still have two qualifying rounds of the Europa League.
“The biggest need is the central defender. Are we focusing on Ajer and Milenkovic? There are others too, they are not the names we are working on. We are calm in midfield with (Sandro) Tonali.”
So, Ajer isn’t the only player that has been identified as a potential target for Milan and with just a few weeks left to go in the transfer market, the gaffer will be glad to hear that he has a decent chance of retaining the services of one of his key players from the last few dominant years.
Would you accept £14m plus add-ons for Ajer?
Yes
No
The arrival of Shane Duffy was never seen as a replacement for the 22-year old, more to allow Lennon to revert back to the shape that served him so well in the early part of 2020 that saw his side pull clear in the title race and be declared Premiership champions for a ninth time in a row.
One thing Maldini knows is what a good defender looks like, having been – arguably – the best in the business for almost 20 years and one of the greatest of all time, Celtic would find it hard to stop Ajer’s head from being turned if they actually follow up their interest, but hopefully he looks elsewhere in his efforts to find someone capable of finally replacing the huge hole he left behind in the heart of Milan’s defence.