Kris Ajer has wisely distanced himself from comparisons with Virgil van Dijk.
Any central defender at Celtic is bound to be compared to the Liverpool favourite with Ajer’s career far more advanced at the same age.
In the summer of 2013 Neil Lennon spent £2.5m signing a central defender from Groningen, Ajer reaches that age next month and is already an established internationalist with over 100 Celtic appearances to his name.
Brendan Rodgers converted the former IK Start midfielder into a central defender where his positional sense and passing ability have blossomed.
Three years after leaving Celtic van Dijk was playing in the final of the Champions League with Ajer well aware that that sort of development curve is very much the exception.
Discussing the comparison with The Sun the young defender said:
Of course, it is flattering to be compared to one of the world’s best footballers, but I still have a lot to develop in my game. I work hard on this every single day in Scotland.
There are many areas of my game I need to improve. I need to be better at judging whether to tackle to win a ball or stand on my feet, I need to be better at attacking set-pieces and I also need to get more experience.
In May 2018 Ajer signed a new contract keeping him at Celtic until June 2022 having initially joined the hoops in 2016 as Ronny Deila’s final signing.