Sviatchenko turned down Leicester to stay at Celtic
Centre-half reveals that Ranieri came calling but he never wanted to leave
F things had turned out differently at the start of this year, Erik Sviatchenko could have been among those players who seemingly pushed for the shock recent sacking of Claudio Ranieri. The now former Leicester City manager had expressed an interest in recruiting the Celtic centre-half during the January transfer window – the player, refreshingly, confirmed as much – in a bid to plug a backline leaking goals profusely in what must be considered one of the worst title defences in living memory.
Sviatchenko admits it remains an aspiration to one day play in England but that a move to the reigning champions held little appeal at this point. At 25 years old he believes he still has a lot to learn at Celtic just 14 months after moving to Scotland from Midtjylland in his homeland. The prospect of a return to the Champions League next season – something Leicester won’t be doing unless they somehow go on to win this year’s competition – is one of the key reasons for Sviatchenko expressing a willingness to put down roots in Glasgow.
“I’m always aware when my agent is having some talks but there has to be more than just talks,” he said. “Was it from Leicester? Yes. There was concrete interest but not a concrete offer. I said that I was happy where I am and at that time I was playing. It was too early for me at that stage.
“There was never an issue about me wanting to leave. I’m 25 and I want to play regularly and here is the perfect place to flourish and find your A-game.
“It is a dream for every player, including myself, to play at the very top level and I would say the English Premier League is one of the highest levels you can play at. But the experience so far with the Champions League and how we play, I think I am at the right stage at the moment. It is future talk.
“I would be honest and transparent and say that my dream is to play in the Premier League but I am not saying that I want to do it now because I have more than enough to do yet. I feel that I have come a long way but I am not done at all, yet. The Champions League nights have been the biggest nights of my career so far and I would like to experience more of them.”
Sviatchenko’s most pressing concern, then, since the turn of the year has been keeping his place in the team. The re-emergence of Dedryck Boyata has created a situation where three centre-halves – Jozo Simunovic is the other – are battling it out for two spots, with Sviatchenko having to accept a seat on the bench for some recent matches.
He returned to the starting line-up against Hamilton Academical last weekend and hopes to retain that place for this evening’s visit to Inverness Caledonian Thistle but is philosophical about his time out of the side.
“I wasn’t worried because I believe in my qualities,” added Sviatchenko. “The manager hadn’t played me so regularly before just for fun. I know that I’m an important player. There are some things the manager wants me to be even better at, like bringing the ball forward and that’s something I’m working on.
“It would be too easy to say: ‘That’s football – my time is up here.’ This is the first time in my career I have been on the bench like that but I just want to work hard and, after having been out, I have a better perspective on things.
“Competition is a natural thing when you are a professional and sometimes it’s good to come out of the team and think about how you play football and why you play football. Hopefully, though, I’ll be in the team from now on because it’s best for my development to play regularly.”
Inverness, the only ground where Celtic have dropped league points this season, represents another stop in their quest to go through the domestic season undefeated. Sviatchenko insists it isn’t a talking point in the dressing room but conceded it would a terrific achievement if they could do so, having already overhauled the Lisbon Lions’ best ever start to a season.
“We have already made history once so why not make it again? But it is too early to say that just now. There are still some tough games and every team we face at the moment will do as much as they can to stop our unbeaten run. It means as much to them to stop us as it does to us to keep it going.
“You want to keep winning because it is a nice feeling. I know the feeling when you go into a dressing room and you have lost points or you lost a game and that is not funny.
“Going unbeaten is a big incentive but it is not something that is talked about in the dressing room.”