Celtic have broached the subject of new deals with in-demand pair Kristoffer Ajer and Odsonne Edouard, but are yet to hold formal talks with the duo in the final 18 months of their contracts.
Both players have been linked with moves away from Parkhead in the summer in a bid to fund a squad overhaul for the new campaign under new chief executive Dominic McKay.
The coronavirus pandemic’s impact on club finances was put on display on Monday when interim financial results on the London stock exchange revealed a pre-tax loss of £5.9million.
Those were posted before the transfer fees on Jeremie Frimpong, who left in January to join Bayer Leverkusen in Germany, and Hatem Abd Elhamed, who returned home to Israel earlier this month, were taken into account.
Both Ajer and Edouard are likely to fetch healthy returns on Celtic’s initial investment, however with their contracts expiring at the end of the 2021/22 season, it has been mooted the Glasgow side could seek to ‘cash in’ now rather than lose them either for a lesser fee or pre-contract next winter.
Manager Neil Lennon said The Hoops were under no duress to sell the pair, who have attracted interest from the likes of Arsenal and AC Milan, adding that attempts to offer new contracts had so far fallen flat.
But while he remained coy on plans for the summer window, Lennon suggested there was no reason for the Hoops faithful to be concerned over any suggestion they will be forced to move the players on.
“We have spoken to both their representatives about sitting down and discussing new contracts, but that’s not been forthcoming at the minute, so we’ll have to wait and see what the summer brings,” he told his press conference in the build up to Celtic’s midweek clash with Aberdeen.
“But what we do have is a team full of assets. Like I said, we just sold one there [Frimpong] for a huge amount of money.
“Every individual’s situation has to be taken on its own merits and we’ll hopefully come to the right decision on each one.
“We’re moving along with plans for the summer quite nicely. I’d expect there will be a few changes to the footballing personnel."
