Celtic secured Marian Shved’s signing in January as he signed a pre-contract deal to join in the summer. The Ukranian international is seen as a significant talent. However, it is fair to say that the Hoops faithful have hardly seen him much this season as he has featured in just two games in all competitions. The winger even scored in a cameo against Nomme Kalju in the Champions League qualifiers.
However, he has found it hard to even get into the matchday squads in the Premiership. Shved has also struggled with injuries, so that hasn’t helped his cause. It is never easy for a new player to come in and adjust to a new country and league.
Shved still happy about the Celtic move
Shved though recently defended his Celtic switch. The Ukranian believes that he made the right call by joining the Hoops even though he is not getting any look in the first team at the moment.
Shved recently said (Daily Record), “I am happy I moved to Scotland. It’s a different style of football than what I have been used to back home. I am working hard and learning so much. The coaches and manager of Celtic have told me if I keep working hard, I will soon start to get minutes on the pitch for them, but it hasn’t happened yet.”
Shved’s non-involvement with the Glaswegian giants didn’t hurt his chances with Ukraine as he recently featured in the Euro 2020 qualifiers for his national team. Celtic will be hoping that he can be injury-free and then, he can come close to playing first-team football.
Why could Shved continue to struggle to get game time?
Shved is primarily a right-winger, and he is competing for first-team places with James Forrest. The Scotsman is one of the crucial players in the first team so Shved will really have to step it up if he wants to get regular game time.
Moreover, Lennon hasn’t looked too keen on rotation so far as he has largely continued with the same set of players in most of the games, especially in the attacking front. Shved is also capable of playing as an attacking midfielder, but there again the Hoops have got the likes of Ryan Christie, Tom Rogic and Olivier Ntcham who can play that role.
So as things stand, Shved’s task seems to be cut out. However, he has enough talent and ability to impress the team management. It’s still early days for him in the Premiership, and the fans need to be patient with him for the time being.
