Celtic will more than recoup their Kris Ajer sell-on clause to IK Start with a clause of their own if the defender is sold.
The teenager joined Celtic in 2016 from IK Start with a 10% sell on clause which is basically an industry standard when moving players on.
Celtic routinely put that into outgoing transfers and hit the big time with Virgil van Dijk moved from Southampton to Liverpool in January 2018. Another windfall is expected when Moussa Dembele moves on from Lyon with the EPL his likely destination.
Ajer hasn’t said anything about leaving Celtic but his former agent was adamant that he wouldn’t be signing a new deal with speculation intensified when he switched agency to SEG at the start of this month.
IK Start sold the future internationalist four years ago and could collect three times the original fee if Ajer is on the move.
The Daily Record reports:
When he does leave Parkhead, the 10 per cent sell-on clause will provide a financial lifeline for his former club, who are £2million in debt with their owner forecasting last month they would run out of money soon.
And the man who negotiated his bargain £650,000 transfer to Celtic four years ago has insisted they knew the 22-year-old was destined for the top.
Former IK Start director Ogrey Brandsdal said: “When we sold him to Celtic, we were also in a very tight financial position and that made the negotiations very pressurised.
“But from the very first moment we saw Kristoffer, we knew he would be playing in the top leagues one day.
“So although we needed the money urgently, we sacrificed some of it so we could add the sell-on clause. We took a long-term view of his career.
“Celtic are known to develop and sell players. They will want a good return on him and won’t allow him to see out his contract.”
After his initial contract Ajer signed a new four-year contract in 2018 but over the next 12 months Celtic will be looking at a renewed contract or make moves to sell the defender.
