Revealed – Ajer’s Dutch Agents head to Milan to discuss transfer, but main target is Milenković | OneFootball

Antonio Vitiello, Director at MilanNews.it has given us some additional information on the Kris Ajer link to AC Milan. There does appear to be real interest from Milan in signing the Celtic defender but it looks like he’s the Plan B if their main target Milenkovic doesn’t sign.

And the Norwegian’s representatives are expected to arrive in Milan this week to discuss a transfer with the Milan management.

“Ajer very welcome name in management, and next week we will be meeting with his agents. But that’s not the main focus of the Milan that he always has in mind Milenkovic, whose economic evaluation remains very high,” Vitiello reports.

So it looks like Nikola Milenković, the Serbian International centre-back and right-back currently at Fiorentina is top of Milan’s shopping list with Kristoffer Ajer the back-up plan.

Neil Lennon admitted at Friday’s press conference that Celtic weren’t quite finished in the transfer window, though his comments that Celtic are “working away in the background” and he is looking for one more signing before the window closes next month may now need to be re-evaluated.

READ THIS FROM THIS MORNING...Lennon plays down AC Milan £15m link with Kris Ajer

Lenny may of course not have been aware of the strong rumours of AC Milan looking to turn long standing admiration for Kris Ajer into an offer of cold hard cash, if he wasn’t, he’s bound to be aware now.

The Ajer situation has been hanging over the club for some time, be it the Norwegian’s previous agent indicating his client would not be signing a new contract or the clear intention of the player to maximise his earning potential by employing Dutch agency SEG as opposed his smaller scale Norwegian representation in Tore Pederson, it all pointed to manoeuvring into position for an exit in this transfer window. An offer from a footballing institution like AC Milan will turn the player’s head and the big bag of swag will turn Peter Lawwell’s.

And it’s the representatives from the Dutch agency SEG who are heading to Milan this week to discuss the possibility of Milan following through with their interest in bidding for the Norwegian international defender.

We can only hope Celtic are ready. Preferably with a deal in place for a new addition prior to selling clubs being aware £15-20million has just been deposited in Celtic’s bank account and upping the value of their player by 20%.

Whereas the Boli Bolingoli situation has been a little more recent and a little more unexpected, we have let a player go without having a replacement ready. You’d assume yesterday the most pressing concern for Celtic was finding a left back or left wing back to supplement a position only covered by Greg Taylor, and when Lennon mentioned one more addition it was the full back role he was alluding to.

The delays in replacing Jozo Simunovic with Shane Duffy took something in the region of three months to address. If Ajer goes we are short, if we weren’t already, which we were.

The injury concerns over Christopher Jullien then is hardly ideal timing, especially when you consider the fall-back options are Nir Bitton and Hatem abd Elhamed, players who haven’t had their own injury concerns to seek in recent years. Good players they may be but we can’t be reliant on them when evidence suggests both players endure lengthy spells on the sidelines.

As such Lennon’s assertion that one more signing will do the job may now need to be reconsidered. If Ajer goes we need a minimum of one central defender – preferably left sided – and a left wing back to cover or offer competition to Greg Taylor.

It appears Lennon’s own wishes have been downsized of late as it’s not so long ago right sided cover for James Forrest also appeared on his wish list, however a lack of Champions League income may well have left Lennon with a one or other choice to make and left back is probably are more pressing concern. Another costly exit in the qualifying stages of the Champions league was always going to impact on incomings after all. Perhaps we need to readdress the Karamoko Dembele situation to ensure we have cover there.

It’s no surprise to see Ajer linked with moves to a bigger league, he’s a fine defender. Is he the finished article? Far from it. Has he made great strides? Yes, he has. Would he benefit from another year at Celtic? He probably would, but offers from AC Milan don’t come in every transfer window and the player will back himself to make it in Italy.

From a Celtic perspective, leave it to next summer and we risk an unhappy player for the remainder of this season and a possible Boyata style sulk and a depreciating transfer fee for each day we eat into the remaining days on his contract. It would also balance the books for the purchases made this season and help soften the financial hit of a third consecutive year of failing to grasp the low-lying financial fruit offered by simply qualifying for the group stages of the Champions league.

If Ajer does head for the Rossoneri then Celtic will need to move fast. With two weeks of the transfer window left asking prices are rising. We’re also needing two players to complete this year’s roster rather than the one Lennon was indicating yesterday. That’s unless we have more unwelcome interest in Celtic’s prized assets in the days ahead. The next fortnight could be a time for hiding under the duvet.

Niall J