Celtic striker ponders move to Bulgaria
Celtic Football Club striker Cillian Sheridan is mulling over a move to CSKA Sofia. The Scottish Premier League runners-up have received a bid for the player from CSKA, and have allowed the 21-year-old to hold talks with the Bulgarian outfit.
While in London as his side faced Arsenal Football Club in the Emirates Cup over the weekend, Celtic manager Neil Lennon told reporters: "There's been an offer from a Bulgarian club and we've given him permission to go over and see what he thinks."
CSKA, runners-up in the top-flight Bulgarian A Professional Football Group last season, invited Sheridan to watch their derby clash with Levski Sofia last weekend. The forward should make a decision over any move to the club by the end of this week.
Sheridan started out his career playing for several youth teams in his native Ireland before Celtic scouts spotted his talents and the Scottish giants snapped him up in the summer of 2006. After becoming part of Celtic’s youth set-up he rose to the reserve team and then the first-team squad in his first season with the club.
Set up win
He made his senior debut against Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club in February 2007 in a Scottish Cup clash. He set up fellow striker Kenny Miller to score the winning goal in injury-time and was rewarded with a new three-year contract. It was only in November 2008 that Sheridan made his first start for the club in a match against Hibernian Football Club, where he scored Celtic’s second goal in a 4-2 victory.
Though he has only made 14 appearances for Celtic – scoring four goals in the process – he has been farmed out on loan on to SPL rivals Motherwell Football Club and St Johnstone as well as then Football League Championship side Plymouth Argyle in England. His temporary switch to ‘Well came about in February 2009, when he joined on loan for the remainder of the 2008-09 season. He made his debut on February 14 against Hamilton in a 1-0 win and played for the entire match. He made 13 appearances for The Steelmen and scored two goals, both in a 2-1 victory over Caley Thistle.
In August 2009, Sheridan signed a six-month deal with Plymouth. Although he was able to play 14 games for the club, he did not score during his loan stint. In January 2010, Sheridan was again loaned out, this time to the Saints for the rest of the 2009-10 season. On February 17, he netted twice as St Johnstone emerged 5-1 winners over Hibernian. In March, he scored the first goal as his temporary club recorded a famous 4-1 triumph over Rangers Football Club. In total, he played 16 times for the Saints and scored six times.
Capped for country
Sheridan has also received recognition at international level. After scoring four times in his nine games for the Republic of Ireland Under-21 national team, he was called up to the full international side. He won the first of his two senior caps in a 2-1 win over Paraguay at the RDS Arena in Dublin.
Should Sheridan should decide to try his luck in Bulgaria, he faces competition from the seven other strikers in CSKA’s squad. Perhaps his biggest obstacle in gaining a starting berth comes in the form of Portuguese forward Rui Miguel Marinho Reis. The number ten joined CSKA in January 2009 and has scored eight times in 32 matches.
Also standing in Sheridan’s way of featuring for the CSKA first-team is former France Under-21 international Elliot Grandin. The 22-year-old joined CSKA in January this year, and has scored four goals in 11 appearances. Bulgarian Dormushali Saidhodzha is also on the club’s books. The 24-year-old has featured nine goals in his first 13 matches for CSKA after joining last summer and is reportedly a target for Championship outfit Leicester City Football Club.
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