Marian Shved’s Celtic career could have turned out to be so much different if the club had followed through with their original plans for the Ukrainian.
The lack of game time that Shved has received at Parkhead has been frustrating for not only the player but the Celtic fans as well. The talent is clearly there in the Ukrainian. At the end of the day, he has already made his debut for the national side. And during his time with Karpaty Lviv in the top division of the country, he 25 goals in just 68 appearances – impressive numbers for a winger that broke into the team at 17 years of age.
His impressive performances caught the eye of clubs from around Europe, but ultimately it came down to either Celtic or Genk. And Shved ended up picking the Scottish champions despite the Belgian side having offered more money, believing it was the right move for his career. Unfortunately, things have not gone as planned for him since then.
After signing a long-term deal with the Hoops, Shved was immediately sent back to Karpaty Lviv where he enjoyed an impressive season. And when he returned to Parkhead in the summer, he was expected to make an impact in Neil Lennon’s first-team.
Things could have been so much different though if Celtic had followed through with their original plans for the Ukrainian and sent him to a Scottish club. As reported by The Scottish Sun, Karpaty Lviv director Oleg Smaliychuk said:
"“When the time came for him to move, he had an offer from Belgium too.“I gave him a list of pros and cons of moving to Genk or Celtic and told him to make a decision, along with his father.“I thought he made the right choice, but how was he to know Brendan Rodgers would leave straight away?“Celtic were also going to loan him to another club in Scotland, but changed their minds too.“Genk actually offered more money than Celtic, but we gave him the choice and he chose Celtic.“Looking back and knowing what we know now, he may have made the wrong choice.”"
At this point of time it is safe to say that the loan deal did not work out for Celtic. Sending him to a Scottish club instead would have helped him acclimatize with the league as well as the conditions, something he has clearly struggled with till now according to Neil Lennon.
One can only wonder though why the club pulled the plug on the loan deal that had originally planned for Shved.