CELTIC IN £2MILLION SWOOP

The 24-year-old centre-half from FC Midtjylland went through a medical yesterday after flying in on Friday night.

He is now expected to agree a three-and-a-half-year deal, with the option of a further year.

And Ronny Deila is also interested in another Dane, Odense winger Rasmus Falk, who is out of contract at the end of the season.

A buy-out clause in Sviatchenko’s contract with the Danish champions had seen the player attract interest from the English top flight, most notably Norwich City, Sunderland, West Brom and Stoke City.

But the Hoops have jumped to the head of the queue to meet his club’s asking price.

Sviatchenko, who can also play left-back, was born in Denmark to Ukrainian parents and could have played for either country, but opted for his home nation.

He earned the first of four caps last March in a 3-2 win over the USA.

The versatile back-four performer also caught the eye with a brilliant goal in a 2-1 friendly defeat to France in Copenhagen in October.

He got his first taste of the Champions League this season after Midtjylland caused a shock by winning the Danish title for the first time.

But they fell at the third qualifying round, losing on away goals to Apoel Nicosia, but they knocked out Southampton in the Europa League play-off.

And they then went a step further to reach the last 32, coming through a tough group with Napoli, Brugge and Legia Warsaw.

They will meet Manchester United next month, but Sviatchenko will pass that up to join the SPFL champions.