FC Zenit have been put off of any potential deal for Celtic defender Kristoffer Ajer, Russian language website Championat.com report.
The outlet say that initial contact was made between the two clubs but, once the Russian giants learned of Celtic’s valuation of the Norwegian international, they backed off.
Zenit have the ability to be big spenders. The cash rich club spent a fee of around £36.5m for Malcom this summer (BBC). That’s clearly well beyond the financial capabilities the Hoops possess.
It has not been made clear what Celtic value Ajer at, but clearly it’s a stance that has paid off in terms of retaining the quality within Neil Lennon’s squad.
The 21-year-old has emerged as one of our best players over the course of 2019.
This season he’s been especially key. Whether on the right flank or in central defence, there aren’t many performing better than him right now.
Losing him is unimaginable, especially in a summer where we have already lost a committed performer in Kieran Tierney.
It seems inevitable that some day a club in a bigger league will come in with a serious offer for the defender. For now though, we don’t have much to worry about.
Celtic have been pretty slow in terms of incoming transfers over the last few transfer windows. However, the club have done really well to protect our best assets and players.
For the most part, nobody who is crucial to the team is leaving without a buying club weighing in with serious cash.
Ajer has clearly been included in that exclusive group of players, and rightly so.
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