Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers is eyeing Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer as Harry Maguire’s long-term replacement at the Foxes, according to The Scottish Sun.
Maguire is on the brink of completing a reported £80m move to Manchester United (BBC) after the two clubs agreed a deal.
That leaves Rodgers in need of securing a central defender before this week’s English Premier League transfer window deadline.
English clubs in the top two divisions have until 5pm on Thursday 8th August to sign players up for the coming season.
The Scottish Sun reckon Ajer, who is said by the paper to be valued at £15m, is on the former Celtic boss’ shortlist.
The Rodgers and Ajer relationship
Rodgers is one of the key reasons that Ajer has emerged as one of Celtic’s best young players.
It was the former Hoops boss who converted the former midfielder into a centre-back. He sent Ajer on loan to Kilmarnock with the express intent of gaining experience in the position.
On his return he was gradually introduced into first-team proceedings. He would go on to make 66 of his 84 Celtic appearances so far under Rodgers.
The former Hoops boss is obviously a big fan, once declaring to Sky Sports: “Kris will be a top-class player, he has all the attributes. At 20, he is 6ft 5ins, he can pass the ball, and on a evening like this he showed he can defend. ”
The defender is now firmly established in Neil Lennon’s team too. Losing him would be a real blow to the squad, even with significant financial reward.
Should we be worried?
Leicester will be flush with cash when Maguire makes his Old Trafford move.
However, Celtic have shown this summer they won’t be bulled by cash-rich clubs with big money offers. The Hoops have so far rebuffed the advances of Arsenal when it comes to Kieran Tierney. Ajer should be viewed as a similarly talented asset.
Celtic are unlikely to be in any rush to sell and there are no time pressures in that regard. The Norewegian signed a new contract in May 2018, committing him to the club until 2022.
Unless silly money is tabled then the chances seem good of retaining Ajer.
A time may come for him to move on, but it’ll be on our terms.
Paper talk is always going to follow our players around because many of them have excellent potential and value.
However, the club know better than to sell Lennon’s best defenders when the position already needs strengthened beyond the current lineup.
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