BACK in January, Celtic finalised the signing of Ukrainian winger Maryan Shved in what would prove to be Brendan Rodgers’ last signing as Celtic manager. Not that he was especially pleased about it - shortly after the club confirmed the deal, Rodgers pondered why Shved had been signed in the first place, as Celtic “already had a million wingers”.
Shved was told to spend the remainder of the season at Ukrainian Premier League side Karpaty Lviv before moving to Glasgow, and the 21-year-old’s impressive form has shown no signs of abating anytime soon. Despite playing for a side currently ranked ninth in the Ukrainian top flight, Shved has continued to be one of the breakout stars in this year’s campaigns.
We’ve delved into the former Sevilla player’s numbers from this season to highlight just how well Shved has been doing in his homeland this campaign.
READ MORE: Who is Maryan Shved and what would he bring to Celtic?
The first thing that jumps out about the Ukrainian internationalist is just how big an impact he is making this season, despite playing for a team ranked ninth in the 12-team league. Shved is the second-top scorer in the Ukrainian Premier League this season, and is responsible for 14 of his club’s 31 league goals this season, all coming from out wide on the right.
An examination of Shved's expected goals (xG) demonstrates just how ruthless the inside forward has been in front of goal this campaign. The winger has an xG of 8.32, revealing that the Ukrainian has scored six more goals this season than he reasonably ought to have - a highly encouraging statistic for Celtic fans.
On top of this, Shved has the third-highest shot accuracy in the league - 49.15% of his efforts hit the target - and is the seventh-best player in the country in terms of shots and dribbles per 90 minutes. The number of progressive runs - dribbles where the ball travels at least 10 yards up the pitch - that Shved successfully attempts is a similarly impressive 2.39 per 90 minutes, ranking him in 11th spot in the Ukrainian top flight.
READ MORE: Frank McAvennie expects Celtic to splash the cash this summer and move towards 10-in-a-row
Some critics may argue that the Ukrainian Premier League is not of a particularly high standard and therefore Shved’s impressive form this season may not necessarily translate to a successful career in Scotland. There is a small element of truth in this; sometimes, for a variety of reasons, players fail to adapt to a new football culture. But it would be a mistake to deride Ukrainian football, which is currently ranked ninth in UEFA’s coefficient table - ahead of countries such as Turkey, the Netherlands and Austria. To put that into context, Scotland is currently ranked 20th at the time of writing.
So how does Shved compare to the current crop of Celtic wingers who he would have to challenge for a starting spot? The graphic below compares the Ukrainian internationalist to James Forrest and Scott Sinclair, who will likely be Shved’s main competition for a place in the Celtic first team.
Judging by the numbers, Shved should be able to realistically challenge for a spot in the Celtic team when he arrives in the summer. Shved scores more goals on average, hits more shots than Forrest or Sinclair, and does so more accurately. Having said that, there are still some areas where notable improvement is required from the wide man.
Shved attempts more dribbles than Forrest or Sinclair, but has a significantly lower success rate - something which will need to be addressed by the Celtic coaching staff. Shved’s shot assist rate is slightly lower than Sinclair’s and Forrest’s, as his overall assist rate, but the building blocks are certainly in place for the young Ukrainian.
Shved continues to go from strength to strength in Ukraine and it’s far from inconceivable that he will be directly challenging for a place in the starting XI next season. As it stands, the winger has been a standout player in a higher standard of competition and if he can adapt quickly to Scottish football, there is no reason to doubt he will be an important player for Celtic. The Ukrainian is fulfilling the potential that convinced Sevilla to recruit him as a teenager and could be the next exciting prospect to light up the Scottish Premiership.
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