Deila keen to sign teenage sensation Ajer after trial

Norwegian youngster Kristoffer Ajer is open to a move to Celtic, as Ronny Deila looks to sign him on a permanent basis.

Ajer spent the last week in Glasgow at Celtic training facilities at Lennoxtown with the first-team and impressed coaches and his fellow Norwegian Deila.

The 17-year-old, who has captained his current club IK Start, was scouted by Paris Saint-Germain on at least four occasions this season.

Ajer made the move from Lillestrom SK in 2014 and has gone on to impress a host of European clubs who are keeping tabs on him including Roma, Liverpool and Arsenal.

Serie A side Roma also submitted a €2 million bid for the 6’5 midfielder last season after a successful trial, but Start rejected the bid.

His current contract runs out at the end of this year, and Celtic have added him to their list of players to watch, however Deila is thought to want him brought in right away.

Ajer has stated his desire to stay at Start until the summer, but Celtic could still strike a deal and loan him back to the Norwegian outfit.

With talk of the youngster being in the same bracket as Real Madrid player Martin Odegaard, Celtic fans will hope they don’t miss out of him.

As quoted by the Daily Mail after his trial, Ajer said:

I’ve got a contract with Start and I’m still a player with them.

That’s my standpoint. But in football much can happen in a short time so it’s difficult to say anything more.

But as things stand, I am playing with Start up until the summer time.

They picked on me because I was too kind in the tackle.

The Celtic players in training go in with two-footed tackles and initially I didn’t.

I quickly got the message that I had to be harder. They told me also that I had to play with one touch rather than two or three.

But I got great experiences from the week. It was a better level than in Norway. They had good ball players.

The intensity in training was higher than I was used to but I was received by very pleasant people in Glasgow.