Deila gives update on Sviatchenko, Johansen and Crepulja

Ronny Deila has expressed his interest in keeping Stefan Johansen at Celtic and gave updates on Erik Sviatchenko and Ljuban Crepulja.

Johansen has endured a torrid spell of form in the Hoops jersey this season and hasn’t matched the standards he set last season since the first leg tie against Malmo in August.

In that game he recorded two assists but since then he has only managed one assist against Dundee United last Friday night and a solitary goal in the Scottish League Cup against Raith Rovers.

Celtic have been linked with Ljuban Crepulja and he is currently on trial at the club, with a decision being made next week on his transfer from Croatian side Slaven Belupo.

As quoted by STV, the Norwegian said:

Crepulja is a player we have watched a little bit and that we want to see more of, now he is training with us. We will see during the week what we do further.

Deila also gave an update on new signing Erik Sviatchenko’s situation as he gets match fit having not played in Croatia since early December due to their winter break.

Sviatchenko is coming tomorrow and he will be at the game but he will not be available to play. It is too early and he needs to train with the team before he gets his debut.

One player who could be on his way out is Stefan Johansen, who has been linked with a move to Premier League side Aston Villa.

However Deila was quick to refute those rumours linking his fellow countryman away from the club.

We want to keep every player, things come up every day now that I haven’t heard about.

Stefan Johansen is staying here, we want to keep him of course.

The 25-year-old midfielder has made 28 appearances this season for Celtic, scoring four goals and adding six assists.

While Deila says he isn’t for sale, we have seen this happen before with Virgil van Dijk who wanted out at the same stage last season.

Only time will tell if the Norwegian will stay at Celtic – and with the deadline just under two weeks away, fans won’t have to wait too much longer to find out what the future holds.