Norway manager Stale Solbakken has worryingly informed Kris Ajer that he needs to quit Celtic as his assistant Brede Hangeland appeared to undermine Scottish football.
Ajer has been at Celtic since 2016 after signing under Ronny Deila. He’s since turned into our most dominant centre-back and been a huge part of our quadruple treble success.
Thanks to his performances in Glasgow, he’s also become a regular with the Norway senior side. Ajer is a constant pick having worked under several international bosses, and looks primed to be a future captain for his country.
However, with his contract expiring in the summer of 2022, he looks set to leave the club this summer with Celtic only having one more window to get a good fee for him. And Solbakken has also been encouraging him to move on whilst his assistant has pitched moving from Celtic when speaking to Ajer on the phone.
“He must”
As quoted by Norwegian outlet VG, Solbakken said: “Kristoffer has to change the league now, he must. He does not have enough challenges in everyday life. Therefore, I think he has got some habits, which you do not notice until he meets better opposition at international level or Europe.
“So, I think it would be a smart move for him. Kristoffer should go to one of the five major leagues. He will do that. He has the qualities to play in those leagues and I am calm about that.”
Norwegian assistant boss Brede Hangeland said: “It is rare you get the impression that he is at his capacity limit. If you are going to have development over a long period of time, you must be challenged as often as possible. I’ve told him this on the phone a couple of times. In some matches he plays in Scotland, he looks like a senior who plays at junior level. It’s of course because he’s good, and this is not criticism of the Scottish league.”
Stale Solbakken makes his point; Kris Ajer no longer appears interested in Celtic stay
It’s clear that whatever’s been pushed to Ajer, he’s certainly taken it on board.
For a while now, the centre-back has been unwilling to enter contract talks with the Hoops. Neil Lennon, before his departure, confirmed both Ajer’s and Odsonne Edouard’s representatives hadn’t entertained approaches from the club [Celtic TV].
That tells you all you need to know about where the duo see their futures – elsewhere. In Ajer’s case, it doesn’t help Celtic that the Norwegian management are consistently undermining the quality of Scottish football when they speak to him.
If Ajer did decide to stay in Glasgow, he would certainly be challenged a lot more than his national team representatives perhaps think he would. Especially when you consider he’s hardly strolled things for us this year.
But as Celtic fans we know now when to acknowledge when an exciting prospect is ready to spread his wings and fly to Europe. Ajer is clearly at that stage. At 22, has an incredible number of years a the top level ahead of him.
He’s going to be one major loss come the summer time. The new manager will need to work hard to find a suitable replacement.
In other news, one managerial candidate is standing out for Michael Stewart.
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