Italian Sky Sport journalist Manuele Baiocchini believes that AC Milan are “betting everything” on securing Takehiro Tomiyasu from Bologna after constant summer links to Celtic’s Kris Ajer.
Ajer has been the subject of a potential switch to the San Siro all summer. Technical Director Paolo Maldini even namedropped the Norwegian as one of a host of targets the Rossoneri have been looking at (Sky Italia).
This has been met with an insistence from Neil Lennon that his top stars won’t depart. Speaking only yesterday at his pre-match press conference for Sarajevo via Celtic TV, Lennon said: “The club are quite strong on that – we don’t want anyone to leave and we want to keep all of our assets. Regardless of the result tomorrow night, that will be the case.”
And it looks as though Milan may very well have been put off by Celtic’s resistance. Sky Sport man Baiocchini believes their focus has now switched solely to Bologna’s Tomiyasu.
A massive pat on the back for the club if they hold out
There’s still time of course. It would hardly surprise you if a last-minute offer came in and the board snapped the hand off. Especially considering we’ve splashed cash on a host of summer signings for the manager.
However, perhaps that’s just the cynical side of this Celtic supporter talking. So far, they’ve managed to keep a strong public image when it comes to the availability of Ajer or any of our top stars. There’s a defiance there that they won’t go unless a huge valuation is met.
If we’re now managing to fend off interest from Serie A clubs such as Milan, it’s a massive credit to the club for how far we’ve come. There’s a refusal to just bow down and accept that a bigger club wants our players.
Keeping Ajer at this stage is huge. Losing him now would see us in a mad dash to try and get another in before the window closes. Even if Nir Bitton has been excellent since coming back into the fold, we still need another top-drawer centre-back if Ajer departs.
Lennon has been extremely public on wanting to keep his best players however. Given the importance of the season, you can see why the Celtic manager is so determined.
These final few days of the transfer window look like being extremely nerve-racking. Hopefully, Milan can get that deal for Tomiyasu over the line and ease any fears of Ajer making way.
In other news, Celtic’s scouting trip last week reportedly had nothing to do with Niclas Eliasson.
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