Celtic striker Albian Ajeti has admitted that he’s thankful to Neil Lennon after a private chat with him in the summer helped bring his confidence back.
Ajeti suffered a miserable debut season with West Ham United last year. The Swiss forward could only manage three full 90-minute games last term, with none of them coming in the Premier League. Overall, he was given 12 outings as he fell down the pecking order in London (Transfermarkt).
However, a £5million move to Celtic in the summer didn’t appear to lead to the Hoops signing a striker lacking in confidence or belief (Sky Sports). Ajeti has rattled home five goals in his first eight Premiership games as he looks to stake a claim for a regular place in Lennon’s starting line-up.
But it appears a duty to pay Lennon back is at the forefront of his mind when it comes to his motivation.
As quoted by the National, Ajeti said: “I didn’t just sign for Celtic just because of a good relationship with the manager. But I came to Celtic because he was the man that I spoke to and he gave me the confidence and the chance to play again at the highest levels.
“I really appreciate that. It was very important for me to make this step and I want to pay Celtic and him back for their feelings to me. I will work 100 per cent to follow his tactics and to follow his good way of playing football.
“In that respect, I will do everything I can, while I will also at the same time to make myself better. That is the way of a good relationship, I think.”
Ajeti’s place under threat – consistency must be his focus
Whisper it quietly, but Ajeti’s position in the Celtic first-team is very much under threat given recent happenings at the club.
Many supporters want to start seeing Leigh Griffiths get regular minutes once again, whilst Odsonne Edouard is back in training and won’t be dropped from the first-team when he’s fit and ready.
As well as that, Lennon has had to tinker with his system and reverted back to a one-striker formation at Aberdeen on Sunday. With two players like Edouard and Griffiths breathing down his neck, and after Ajeti failed to net vs Milan or Aberdeen, consistency has to be his primary focus.
Nobody is expecting mad numbers from him this season, but so long as the likes of Griffiths is scoring regularly then Ajeti will have to match that at the very least.
What’s interesting when you look at both Griffiths and Ajeti is that the latter appears to need better service than the former to make an impact. Whilst Ajeti’s finishing prowess has been proven, it’s Griff who has looked the better of the two in recent games.
It’ll be intriguing to see whether that sparks any sort of increase in performance levels from the Swiss forward. Given who he’s up against for a place in the side, you feel it has to.
In other news, Lennon has hinted that one of his key men from Sunday won’t be starting against Lille tonight.
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