Celtic boss Neil Lennon has disclosed the discussions he had with Switzerland ahead of Albian Ajeti joining up with his national squad, the Celtic View reports.
Ajeti has had an excellent start to his Hoops career, scoring two goals so far. Understandably, Lennon will want the player, who has yet to start a game for Celtic, to maintain that level of performance, as Ajeti works to build up his fitness.
As a result, Lennon informed Switzerland that the player would need to work on his conditioning whilst on international duty.
“A bit of catching up”
“He has to go away with Switzerland, but we’ve made it clear that he needs more conditioning work. He’ll be assessed by them. He still has a bit of catching up in terms of fitness” Lennon said, as quoted by the Celtic View (Volume 56, Issue 6, Page. 7).
Lennon then praised the qualities Ajeti has brought to the Hoops so far.
“He’s strong, technically good, intelligent and a very good finisher.”
Ajeti’s conditioning work with Switzerland seems to be going well so far, as he featured in their Nations League game against Ukraine on Thursday night.
Came on as substitute
He came on in the 73rd minute of the game, which Switzerland lost 2-1. It will be interesting to see if he features in Switzerland’s next game, against Germany on Sunday night.
That game will be a real test for Ajeti should he feature. It would not be a shock if he starts on the bench once more.
After all it is all about getting the player fit after he played very little football for West Ham last season. He made only 12 appearances, with just three starts among that number.
However, in his brief spell with the Hoops he has already shown that he looks to be a talent with an eye for goal. That will only increase the fitter he gets. Lennon was correct to make the demands of Switzerland, and hopefully Ajeti’s fitness will continue to improve.
In other news, Southampton are considering moving for Olivier Ntcham.
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