Ajer has a year left on his Celtic contract and is almost certain to leave the Scottish giants in the ongoing transfer window.
The 23-year-old defender wants to move on from Celtic and he has been attracting interest from several clubs in the Premier League and in Europe.
Newcastle have identified him as their priority target and are hopeful that they will be able to take him to St. James’ Park this summer.
But the budget at Newcastle is limited and they are aware that other clubs such as Norwich City and Bayer Leverkusen are also pushing to land the centre-back.
Ajer remains Newcastle’s number one target but they are putting in contingency plans if they fail to sign him as they do not want to be drawn into a bidding war.
The Magpies are pursuing several other alternative defenders who they would like to consider signing.
Adding strength to Newcastle’s defensive options is Steve Bruce’s priority and he is keen to have a number of options on his table before taking a call on whom to sign.
