Now is the right time for Celtic to deal in Kristoffer Ajer

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Kristoffer Ajer’s new contract hasn’t been signed as of yet, but now would be a great time to tie the Norwegian down.

Celtic manager Neil Lennon said at the start of the season that giving Ajer a new contract was on the cards. This came after Leicester City and AC Milan were both linked with mega-money moves for his services (Scottish Sun).

However, fast forward over two months and Ajer has been seriously struggling for form, whilst no new contract has been signed.

He’s made a total of 18 appearances for us this season, but it’s fair to say he’s going through a slump. Rash challenges from Ajer as well as just a flurry of bad luck has come his way. It was his failure to hold onto the ball that led to Livingston’s opener on Sunday.

Added to that, he’s made key mistakes against the likes of Rennes and Hibernian in recent weeks. He’s out-of-form and in desperate need of a confidence-booster.

Time to reel in that new contract

But that’s just one of the reasons that it’s time to give Ajer a new contract. The manager can give him a huge back pat by offering him that new deal. But there’s more to this.

The summer speculation was scary stuff for a while. We couldn’t have afforded to lose Ajer so soon after the departures of Filip Benkovic and Dedryck Boyata respectively.

By tying him up on a new, long-term deal now, it gives us even more security for when his form does return. It will mean the deal has already been signed. There would be no chance of Ajer eyeing up a move elsewhere.

Doing this whilst he’s out-of-form allows us to tie him to the club whilst interest in him is quiet. We all know how good Ajer is. We all know he’ll snap out of his luckless start to the season eventually.

And cashing in now by giving him a new deal could work wonders for Celtic in the long-run. It could be both the boost that Ajer himself needs, and it could be exactly what calms down speculation over his future.

Waiting until the summer when he’s in high demand and only has a couple of years remaining can be a dangerous game. Having him tied down four a further four or five years, however? That gives us maximum security over his future.

Ajer deserves another deal for the work he’s put in at Parkhead over the last year. And with such a poor run of form suddenly coming his way, now is the time to strike.