Midtjylland have emphatically refuted claims Erik Sviatchenko is set to be sold amid claims linking the defender with a return to Celtic, as reported by TipsBladet.
Talk about ‘curse of the ex’.
As Celtic once again bowed out of the Champions League before the end of July, the Hoops were left to rue the almost faultless defensive performance of a man who won two Scottish Premiership titles in green and white before being sold for a bargain £1 million.
Sviatchenko certainly got the better of a labouring Odsonne Edouard as Midtjylland stunned Ange Postecoglou’s side in Jutland.
According to the Scottish Sun and Daily Record, Sviatchenko still has plenty of admirers at Celtic Park and would be welcomed back to his old stomping ground with open arms.
But after selling Frank Onyeka to Brentford and with Sweden international Jens Cajuste expected to join him in west London, Midtjylland have made sure they’ve left no-one in doubt over the future of their captain marvel.
Celtic would love to see Sviatchenko come back
“I have told (president) Claus Steinlein and the others that, if they sell (Sviatchenko), I will jump off The Little Belt bridge, because it would be completely insane,” says manager Bo Henriksen, hopefully tongue in cheek.
“He’s our helmsman and he’s important to us. He has played better at a really high level, and it’s really cool to see.”
At least no-one should have to worry about Henriksen chucking himself into the freezing cold waters around Denmark any time soon.
“(Sviatchenko) will not be sold at all. There is nothing in it. Erik is a huge icon at FC Midtjylland,” Steinlein adds.
“He must stay at FC Midtjylland. He’s a player we really appreciate.”
Celtic, at least, appear to have put that Champions League disaster to the back of their minds with Kyogo Furuhashi and Liel Abada shining during recent 4-2 and 6-0 thrashings of Jablonec and Dundee respectively.
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