Celtic have endured a mixed start to the season.
Neil Lennon’s side have always been well in the mix at the top end of the Scottish Premiership and they are looking for their 10th successive title win in 2020/21.
But they have had a stuttering start to the campaign.
After 11 games, they have won eight, drawn two, and lost one, the latter defeat coming against leaders Rangers.
Steven Gerrard’s side, by comparison, are unbeaten after 13 games, with 11 wins and two draws to their name.
The eagle-eyed will have noticed that Celtic do have two games in hand on their Old Firm rivals, meaning they can significantly cut the nine-point gap currently between them.
But even if they win them both, they will remain three points off the lead.
One player who has been in the team for every single game this season is Kristoffer Ajer but it appears that his time at the club could well be coming to an end.
Football Insider reports that there has been interest from Premier League and Serie A sides in snaffling the 22-year-old away from Glasgow, and he has rejected a number of contract offers from his current employers.
Alex McLeish, the former Rangers and Scotland boss, believes he will be well aware of the interest in him, and believes he will “know for a fact” that elite clubs are sniffing around.
Speaking to Football Insider, he said: “He’s very consistent and he is a leader. You can see that in him.
“He can take a lot of confidence from the fact he’s been quoted as maybe moving to one or two of the big clubs in Europe so that gives a player a lot of motivation when you hear these things.
“It’s not so much reading the papers, he knows for a fact these guys were in because he’d be kept up to the mark with his agents and stuff.
“A good, big player, they can’t all play fantastic every week. You’ve seen a couple of the goals recently that he could even have done better. Nobody’s perfect and you’ve just got to learn from it and make sure you get better and better from experience.”
GIVEMESPORT’S Harry Sherlock says…
There really isn’t anything left for Ajer to achieve in Scotland.
He has won the league title and the Scottish League Cup three times each, while also lifting the Scottish Cup twice.
Bar European achievement, he’s done it all at Celtic and one has to think that he should be contemplating his future.
At the age of 22, he is coming into his best form, and may well have the opportunity to make a big move south or abroad.
Those opportunities don’t come around all that often; Ajer should make a point of agreeing a move to further his progression as a player.