According to the latest reports from the Daily Record, Celtic are close to completing a swoop for Ukrainian winger Maryan Shved. The report adds that the 21-year-old is going to cost £1.75m and is set to be loaned out for the rest of the season to his current club Karpaty Lviv.
Brendan Rodgers had earlier given an indication (Herald Scotland) that he didn’t know too much about the winger and suggested he didn’t demand to sign a winger in this window. Therefore it’s clear that its the board who have gone ahead and given the green light to sign this right winger.
Loaning him out for the rest of the season is a smart move as we didn’t see him playing any sort of role in the ongoing season given the options the club have at their disposal. In James Forrest, Celtic have one of the best, if not the very best, winger in the Premiership and we didn’t see Shved dislodging him from that position.
Even new signings like Oliver Burke can fill in on the right when required. Timothy Weah is also someone who has a bit of experience of playing in the wide regions. Therefore signing a winger was not a necessity for the club but it seems like Celtic were impressed with the talent which Shved possessed and wanted to pull off a deal for him as soon as possible.
People might criticise them now for signing a winger when there is no requirement for one, but if the player goes on to shine in the next few years, then this £1.75m deal could look like a bargain. Given his current form, Shved has a decent chance of being a major hit at Parkhead in the next few years.
However, this piece of news would not be good for the likes of Jonny Hayes and Lewis Morgan and even to some extent for Oliver Burke. The Hoops have already signed a winger for the summer, and we don’t really see them now going for Burke permanently over the summer. As for Hayes and Morgan, their time looks limited at Celtic Park, but they can always use someone like Ryan Christie as an example.
Shved’s goal scoring exploits in the Ukrainian league has been impressive, and that could be one of the reasons why the Hoops have gone on to seal a deal for him. Another factor could be that Premier League heavyweights Liverpool are going to target (The Scottish Sun) James Forrest in the summer and maybe Rodgers has already secured his replacement by signing Shved in this window.
