Norwich City are ready to offer £12m for Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer this summer, The Daily Record has reported.
Despite having a £10m bid knocked back last month, along with Bayer Leverkusen, it appears the Canaries haven’t been put off by Celtic’s high valuation.
They’re now set to return with an improved bid that will also include a sell-on clause and other future add-ons.
That could well be the kind of bid that really makes Dominic McKay think this summer.
Ajer has less than a year left on his current contract and has already told reporters he wants to leave the club. In fact, he stated to the media that there was an agreement he could leave last summer, but eventually decided to stay on.
It seems unthinkable that he’ll walk out of the club for nothing, or will be happy spending another year in Glasgow.
In these circumstances, despite his high ability and potential, £12m starts to sound rather appealing. That’s especially true if the fee allows Celtic to negotiate aggressive add-ons.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not arguing the club sells itself short. If they feel there’s more money on the table then they’re in a much better place to judge than me. It could well be that Bayer Leverkusen and other European or English teams are still in the hunt. If so, Celtic are well within their rights to play hardball.
However, if it comes down to actually concluding business or not, there’s no reason not to accept a bid in this region. It could massively help with Celtic’s own transfer business this summer, for example.
McKay, Ange Postecoglou, the Celtic board and the football department have massive decisions to make over the comings weeks and this is assuredly one of them.
Like everything else, they have to get it right. There’s no room for error at Celtic this season.
In other news, new Celtic man Liam Shaw gets glowing review from European scout.
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