Kristoffer Ajer's transfer from Celtic to Brentford is a good move for both parties - Tony Haggerty

It is a kind of hop, skip and jump guide to ascending the ranks to football greatness.

Van Dijk spent two glorious years at Celtic from 2013-2015 after being talent spotted playing for middle of the road Dutch side Groningen FC.

He then upped sticks for Southampton in a £13 million deal.

Two years later Celtic were banking the guts of £7.5 million on the back of Van Dijk's record £75 million transfer switch to Jurgen Klopp's Liverpool.

The Dutchman has since gone on to become widely acknowledged as arguably the greatest defender on Planet Football.

Now Kristoffer Ajer hopes to tread a similar path.

Norwegian defender Ajer, 23, looks certain to becomes the latest Celtic star to quit the Hoops for the bright lights of the English Premier League.

Brentford are close to sealing the transfer for a staggering £13.5 million.

The fee and structure have all been arranged for the man who battered home the penalty kick in the Scottish Cup final against Hearts that sealed an unprecedented quadruple Treble for Celtic last season.

In 2016, then Celtic manager Ronny Deila plucked his relatively unknown compatriot from Norwegian outfit Start.

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Fast forward five years and the selling of Ajer has now raked in nearly 26 times what the Hoops initially shelled out for his services.

It represents a piece of shrewd transfer business by the those who reside in Glasgow's East End.

Bring in unknown gems from various league in Europe, polish them up and flog them for a fortune.

It is the Celtic transfer business model which has served them well down the years.

It is also testament to Celtic's resolve that they turned the Bees initial offer of £12 million plus £3 million in add-ons down flat.

The Hoops hierarchy were convinced that they could command a much higher and tidier sum for what they viewed as one of their prized assets.

Ambitious Brentford smashed their own transfer record by recruiting Ajer and were willing to go toe-to-toe with German cracks Bayer Leverkusen and Premier League rivals Newcastle United to land their man.

There is a school of thought that if ever a modern-day transfer summed up the 'beautiful game' then it's surely this one.

Some of a Hoops persuasion have slaughtered Ajer for leaving Celtic for Brentford.

His critics say that the move lacks ambition.

Does it though?

Does it really? Now, it goes without saying that in the pantheon of great European clubs, Brentford are a speck compared to Celtic's bright shinging star.

van Dijk was a giant

But surely there is a wider picture here to be examined.

Ajer achieved everything that he ever wanted and more at Celtic.

He won every major domestic honour that was on offer in Scottish Football.

The only blemish on a solid five-year stint in the Hoops was the fact that he could not guide Celtic to 10-in-a-row.

The Norwegian candidly admitted that he had been promised a transfer by Celtic before the start of the ill-fated tilt at the ten.

That figure, sadly for Celtic supporters, remains firmly in the ether.

The Norwegian made 176 appearances for Celtic and scored seven times.

A stunning winning goal in a 2-1 victory at Pittodrie over Aberdeen will live long in the memory banks of the Hoops supporters after the Norwegian departs for pastures new.

Celtic fans may scoff at the fact that Brentford are not a big club - as they would perceive them - but the Bees have joined the big-boys playground and are now dining out among the elite of English football.

They are a cash-rich entity.

You can't fault any club whose ambitions are to thrive in the elite world of English Premier League football.

The point here is that Ajer will be only too aware that he is joining a team who will firstly want to consolidate their new-found position in the top flight.

Correct me if I am wrong but don't Brentford have a similar business model to Celtic and have a proven track record of buying players cheaply and selling them on for vast profits?

You can't fault any club whose ambitions are to thrive in the cut-throat world of the world's most popular league.

You also cannot fault a player for wanting to uproot from Scottish Premiership to that environment.

No matter the club, it's increasingly becoming a total no-brainer. Ajer will be only too aware that he is joining a team who will firstly want to consolidate by staving off relegation.

Celtic supporters may not like the fact that Ajer is swapping the chance of winning silverware and a regular diet of European football - Champions League/Europa League - delete as appropriate - for an a significantly smaller club.

Ajer though like Van Dijk is clearly playing the percentage game.

He may not be the finished article by any stretch or ever become an accomplished defender in the Van Dijk mould.

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He also may never reach the dizzy heights that the Dutchman has already scaled in his career by claiming a UEFA Champions League winners medal.

However Ajer knows that a good 18 to 24 months with Brentford could cement his growing footballing reputation and open the door to a move to a bigger club within England or perhaps even abroad.

Like it or not this is a glorious chance for Ajer to pit himself against many of the best players in world football.

Nobody in their right mind would grudge a player that opportunity.

Just as Van Dijk did before him, 23 year-old Ajer is already projecting ahead.

He is already planning for where he wants to be at say 25 or 26 which are the peak years of a footballer's career and could potentially see him go stratospheric.

If Celtic had established themselves as regular participants in the Champions League group stages in the past decade or so then the club might have been able to repel the likes of Brentford's millions and possibly extend Ajer's deal in Paradise.

The grim and rather harsh reality is that Celtic can no longer afford to compete with English Premier League clubs.

Arguably the most galling and saddest indictment of all for the Celtic supporters is that players like Van Dijk and Ajer now view the club as a some sort of stepping stone FC to England.

There is one positive in all of this though and the silver lining appears to be that the Celtic business model appears to be holding up.

The hop, skip and jump method indeed. Just ask Van Dijk.

As for Ajer we'll watch his developments closely and reconvene on that one.