Celtic defender Erik Sviatchenko was linked with Leicester City in January and, on the basis of these comments, it would be no surprise to see him leave.
You wonder whether Erik Sviatchenko feels a slight twang of regret about turning down Premier League champions Leicester City in January. After all, the Danish defender has only started seven of Celtic’s last 13 games and, according to the Daily Record, is increasingly frustrated at Parkhead.
Sviatchenko returned to the starting XI as The Bhoys were surprisingly held at home by Partick Thistle on Wednesday evening, the first time the visitors had avoided defeat at Celtic in 23 years.
Unsurprisingly, however, missing out on Sunday’s title clinching triumph over Hearts appears not to have gone too well with the 25-year-old.
“Since January, I have not figured as much as I’d hoped. It is the first time in my career I have sat on the bench and not been selected, although in fact I’m fit,” Sviatchenko told Danish publication BT.
“It is not ideal and it is a situation I must deal with. If Brendan Rodgers has decided that I am third choice, I will do everything to prove that I must be one of the two in the middle.
“It is obviously a tiresome situation, especially when I’ve had such a big role until July and then not be as dominant as I’d expected. Right now it’s frustrating.”
Sviatchenko has certainly not been helped by the consistency of Jozo Simunovic or Dedryck Boyata’s sudden and unexpected emergence (below) since the turn of the year. But although he has fallen down the pecking in recent months, Celtic will be hoping that he remains at the club beyond the summer.
He told The Express in March that he rejected the chance to sign for Leicester in the winter window because of the guaranteed first-team football on offer under Rodgers.
However, his reduced role in recent weeks may mean that he will give thought to his future in the summer.
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