Target Ajeti is grounded

STRIKER STALLS ON HAMMERS EXIT

CELTIC target Albian Ajeti is in no rush to seal his move out of West Ham United.

Parkhead chiefs have identified the Swiss striker as a potential signing and have spoken to the Londoners about a possible deal to take him to Glasgow.

Ajeti, however, has taken time out to consider his next move after a failed term with the Hammers following his £8million switch from Basel last summer.

Manager David Moyes is willing to offload the 23-year-old as he aims to make squad changes for the new campaign and, although a loan would be considered, a fee of £5m could land the striker.

However, Ajeti’s agent Arber Sakiri refused to discuss the interest from the Scottish champions when contacted last night.

And he offered no further updates on the position regarding his client’s next move.

He said: “For the moment there is nothing to say. He is still a player of West Ham as far as we are concerned.

“It is normal that we have some calls here and some calls there and people are talking about this.

“It is also normal that people are talking about something and some interest here or there, maybe that’s true. From our side there is nothing to say.”

Meanwhile, Celtic’s hopes of landing £6m-rated Peterborough striker Ivan Toney received a boost last night.

Brentford’s bid for the Premier League crashed and burned following their 2-1 defeat, after extra-time, to

Fulham at

Wembley.

It is understood the Griffin Park outfit would have raced into pole position in the chase for the

24-year-old’s signature if they had made it past their west London rivals to claim a £160m promotion jackpot. But after suffering the agony of losing last night’s showpiece, Thomas Frank’s chances of persuading Toney to sign on the dotted line have also been dented.

Peterborough had been holding out for a huge transfer fee bankrolled by Brentford’s promotion to the cash-rich top flight.

And Toney (below) may also now see a move to Scotland’s nine-in-a-row champions – and with it a crack at Champions League football – a s better for his own career path than a move up into England’s second tier. Posh boss

Darren Ferguson has called for a quick resolution to Toney’s transfer situation.

He told Peterborough Today : “We will have to wait and see with Ivan and it could be a distraction if his situation rumbles on. That wouldn’t be ideal.

“It would be better if things were resolved quickly but the owners quite rightly won’t sell him unless they get the right price.

“It could be we end up with the best striker in League One playing for us at the start of the season so I’m quite relaxed about it.

“Ivan won’t play in the first friendlies but if he is still here as the new season approaches I will have to play him.

“I can’t sign anyone until he leaves which again is not ideal as I would want as much time as possible with the player we bring in to replace him.

“We have targets in mind and certainly the top two will have the same level of physicality that Ivan brought to the team. We need that because our other strikers, Mo Eisa, Siriki Dembele and Ricky-jade Jones have different skills.”