Marian Shved has confirmed his intention to leave Celtic this summer. The Ukrainian winger was on loan at Mechelen in Belgium last season after failing to impress Neil Lennon. The winger, signed from Karpaty Lyiv, has made just three appearances for the club – scoring once.
The Celtic winger was signed in January 2019 from Ukraine but failed to make any impact in the time he’s had at the club. He was loaned to the Belgian side but given Lennon has moved on, he may have fancied a crack at a Celtic Park redemption.
However, he told Ukrainian publication Tribuna that he never felt trusted and wanted to make the stay in Belgium a permanent one.
“I am pleased with the last season because again I felt the rhythm of the game and confidence in my abilities.
“I didn’t manage to adapt quickly enough to the new club Mechelen and the Belgian championship but being here made me stronger both mentally and in terms of play.
“As a result, I got a chance that I did not have at Celtic. My loan is ending and I would like to stay and play at Mechelen.
“I feel the confidence of the coach and confidence in my abilities. And without trust, no footballer can play.
“I will do my best to get called up to the national team again. But for this, you need to continue to have constant playing practice and make effective actions.”
Lennon and Shved clearly did not see eye to eye and the player was on the periphery of the Celtic squad, featuring in matchday squads sporadically and playing even less. Mechelen boss Wouter Vranken said that he hoped a deal for Shved would be agreed in the coming days.
“Marian told us that he wants to stay for the next season.
“Let’s see what Celtic thinks about this and try to come to an agreement.
“We look forward to receiving news in the coming days.”
Shved is a number of players that will likely be moved on in the summer. He was not willing to do the hard graft to play for the team but that may be down to the fact that Lennon and his coaches didn’t fancy him. If we can recoup some of the fee we paid for him, we can look to invest it appropriately.
