Celtic manager Neil Lennon has confirmed that he has held discussions with centre-back Kristoffer Ajer about his future at the club.

There has been increasing speculation in Italy that AC Milan will make a move for the Norwegian international before the transfer deadline next month.

Lennon has already downplayed suggestions that the Hoops would accept an offer of around €15m (£14m) for the defender, and ahead of the Europa League qualifying round match against Riga FC, he said he sat down with Ajer to talk about his situation:

“You can’t control speculation – there’s been no concrete offers, no confirmation of anything and we don’t want to sell him. He’s in a good place mentally, I spoke to him on it yesterday. I’m there as support for him, sometimes it can be a very distracting situation he finds himself in. He’s all getting the support he can from myself, my backroom team and obviously his team-mates.”

The Italian press claim that Celtic are demanding at least €20m (£18m) upfront for Ajer, which is proving problematic for Milan, who were looking to sign the prior on an initial loan deal, with a move being made permanent after a certain number of appearances.

It is thought that there could be further developments in the transfer after Celtic play their Europa League qualifier tomorrow night.