AC Milan manager Stefano Pioli has discussed his side’s summer interest in Kristoffer Ajer, and has admitted that the Rossoneri were indeed interested in the Celtic man.
Ajer was consistently linked with a move to the San Siro all throughout the window, with the only certainty that he was staying coming after the window had officially closed.
In what can only be described as brilliant irony, Ajer will now have to face the team who held that summer interest in the Europa League. Ajer is certain to start against Milan at Celtic Park, with the return game in the San Siro set for matchday five.
But Pioli has hinted that any interest in the Celtic star is now dead as he stated he was happy with the defensive options at his disposal.
As quoted by the Scottish Sun, Pioli said: “Yes, we did follow him in the summer.
“But I am really happy with the squad we have got. I have a lot of players in that position and I am happy with that.”
Ajer won’t have fully removed transfer speculation from his mind
Whilst we would all like to imagine that Ajer is 100% focused on beating Milan to help Celtic, the chances are the transfer speculation will be well at the forefront of his mind tonight.
But that’s an energy Ajer can harness in a good way. We would all admit that moving from Glasgow to Milan would be a step up in Ajer’s footballing career. Therefore, he’ll be itching to show them exactly what they’re missing out on.
It feels odd to label a massive Europa League game as some form of audition – but that’s what Ajer will likely look at these games as. It’s a chance to keep Milan interested in him for next summer when he looks likely to leave the club.
It’s nigh on impossible to just block out all of that. Not when the team who looked at you for months is who you’re up against. Ajer will be looking at this as an opportunity, or at least he should do anyway.
Hearing Pioli say that he’s happy with what he’s got suggests there’ll be no saga to revisit in January. However, the Norwegian must look at those comments and take them as something to prove the AC Milan boss wrong over.
If he takes those comments and uses them as motivation, it could be a big boost for Celtic tonight. Hopefully he does exactly that.
In other news, Neil Lennon has been left absolutely fizzing has he discussed a private contact with a Premiership boss.
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