Erik Sviatchenko snubs host of offers to join 'winning club' Celtic

Erik Sviatchenko says he snubbed offers from a number of clubs to join Scottish champions Celtic.

The Denmark international centre-back has signed a four-and-a-half year deal with Ronny Deila's side but will take no part in Tuesday's home match against Hamilton Academical.

Speaking at the pre-match news conference at the club's Lennoxtown complex, the 24-year-old, who joined from Danish side FC Midtjylland, said: "It has been a long wait for me to get a contract in a foreign country and when Celtic came I could feel that this was a very good decision for me.

"This is a winning club, they have been the champions in the last four years. I won the championship in Denmark and I want to be remembered for winning, not just for playing games. Every game I go into I want to win and that is a good match with Celtic."

Asked which clubs he had turned down in favour of a move to Scotland, Sviatchenko, who had been linked with a number of Premier League sides, said: "I won't name any teams.

"But I rejected these because I saw Celtic as a much bigger club than some of the Premier League teams. It means a lot to me to be at a club where I can feel the intensity and atmosphere. I had goosebumps and I want to experience big games here.

"There was also interest from the Italian league, the French league and the Championship but nothing could compare to a huge club like Celtic.

"This is a very, very good move for me and I am just happy to have signed a deal with Celtic for a very long time. I want to be someone who the Hoops will remember. For me now it is all about developing here and to become a regular starter. That is the most important thing for me."

On the style of play Celtic fans can expect to see from the Dane, who has been capped four times by his country, Sviatchenko said he now concentrates on the defensive side of his duties having once fancied himself as the new David Luiz.

"I spoke to my mental coach, I said to him 'I like David Luiz and I also like John Terry, and he said to me, 'OK, but you have to be Sviatchenko'. Of course that is true but maybe I should start to be a defender, that is why I am in defence.

"So I talked to him again and said 'OK, maybe I should be more like John Terry instead of David Luiz because I saw him at the World Cup and he [Luiz] was terrible in the defence'. So I found out it was better to be a good defender than a dribbling guy that cannot defend."  

And Celtic boss Deila admitted he was delighted to have persuaded Sviatchenko to move to Glasgow in the face of such stiff competition for his signature.

"We have watched him for a long time so it is not just in this window that we have been talking about him," said the Norwegian. "He is an experienced player to be so young, has been a captain of his team, is a leader and that is the important thing.

"And as you can see here, he is a guy who knows what he is doing. He is a professional who wants to develop and get better."