Why Celtic should send Marian Shved out on loan in January

One of the last signings of Brendan Rodgers’ illustrious managerial spell at Celtic, Marian Shved has cut more of a forlorn figure at Parkhead since his arrival from Ukrainian club Karpaty Lviv. 

The winger was loaned back immediately to Karpaty Lviv following his move in January 2019 in order to allow him to further his development in his homeland. However, things have been far from ideal since his return to Glasgow earlier in the summer and 22-year-old’s Hoops career is yet to take off. 

Shved, who arrived at Parkhead last winter under the reign of Rodgers, was expected to come back to the club prior to the start of the 2019-20 season and challenge for a first-team role. 

That, however, hasn’t really been the case and it was always going to be tough for the Ukrainian youngster to establish himself at the club after Rodgers departed Celtic to take up the job at Leicester City towards the end of the previous campaign. 

Neil Lennon apparently didn’t seem too keen to offer Shved a substantial role in the first-team in the opening month of the ongoing campaign before he eventually handed him his senior debut against Nomme Kalju in the second qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League. 

Despite coming off the bench as a late substitute, the 22-year-old grabbed his opportunity with both hands and enjoyed a goalscoring professional debut for the Hoops, scoring with a wonderful strike from the edge of the penalty area. 

While that goal might have impressed a lot of the fans, it wasn’t enough to convince Lennon that Shved is capable of playing a regular role in the first-team.

The Ukrainian failed to make it to several matchday squads thereafter, not only in the Scottish Premiership but also in the European qualifiers before suffering a massive setback during the most recent international break. 

The 22-year-old, who was called up by Andriy Shevchenko for international duty despite his lack of playtime at Celtic, picked up an ankle injury in training just when he would have hoped to make a big impact for his nation. 

Indeed, that injury isn’t going to do his chances of breaking into Lennon’s plans at Celtic any good and a potential spell on the sidelines for a few weeks might push him further down the pecking order at this club. 

To put things into perspective, it is still unclear as to what Lennon has in mind for Shved but Celtic should try and arrange a loan move for the Ukrainian starlet in January to allow him to develop as a player. 

Sitting regularly on the sidelines is not what a professional footballer wants at the age of 22 and Shved, who is still very much in the developmental years of his career, needs quality playtime to hone his skills to a level that he might be able to challenge for a first-team role at Celtic in the future. 

Youngsters like Lewis Morgan and Mikey Johnstone are ahead of him in the pecking order at Celtic, signs which are certainly not encouraging for Shved, and probably even he knows that he will need to work harder than ever to establish himself at his parent club. 

A loan spell at another club in the Scottish Premiership would allow Shved to continue his development with regular minutes, while also ensuring that he finds it easier to acclimatise to the Scottish style of play. 

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Marian Shved is a player with a lot of potential and Celtic should make sure that they keep a keen eye on his progress and do the needful to make his transition to the new surroundings a lot easier and quicker.

For the time being, though, a loan move looks like the best possible solution.