Neil Lennon says £2m Celtic player is really struggling in training

Follow us on Google Discover

The 22-year-old has only played 15 minutes of league football for Celtic.

Neil Lennon has revealed to Celtic TV that Marian Shved is ‘struggling’ to adjust right now.

The Ukraine international joined the Hoops in a £2 million deal last January [The Scottish Sun] but only wound up arriving last summer after being loaned back to Karpaty Lviv.

Despite a decent start to life as a Celtic player, the winger, who scored in a Champions League qualifier, has barely featured this season.

So far, the 22-year-old has only managed 15 minutes of Premiership football since August and hasn’t made a squad since October.

Fans of the Parkhead club called on Lennon to start using him more in light of failing to sign a winger during the January transfer window, but the Celtic manager has admitted that the player is finding it tough in training and the way of life in Scotland.

He said: “He’s found it difficult, he’s struggled with the English, in training, he’s not getting at the level as the rest of them are. He’s still a very talented player, but he’s still taking a bit more time to adapt.”

In a further backwards step for Shved, Lennon added that he won’t be back in the Europa League squad for the knockout phase of the competition.

This won’t come as a huge surprise, considering he has been anonymous for much of the season, but it is rather ominous.

But as Lennon said, this is a ‘very talented player’ and hopefully for his sake he can get his groove back, because Celtic, who lost Scott Sinclair last month and have been without Mo Elyounoussi since October, could do with the wide support.