CELTIC centre half Erik Sviatchenko today revealed his ambition is to become one of the best defenders in the whole of EUROPE.

Sviatchenko has done well for the Scottish champions since signing from FC Midtjylland in his native Denmark in a £1.5 million deal back in January.

The 24-year-old has established himself as a first team regular at Parkhead and scored in the William Hill Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers last month.

But Sviatchenko has admitted his personal objective is to be rated alongside Jerome Boateng, Javier Mascherano and Raphael Varane as one of the best defenders in the continent.

“I haven’t struggled with the change this season,” he said. “I’m composed as a person, know what I want to do and know how to play football.

“It’s a part of you saying loud that you want to be one of the best defenders in Europe. To do that, you have to deal with changes that come.

“I said that I wanted to move abroad from Denmark and it has been a long and tough way towards it. Now I’m here and now it starts again. I’m at a new club and I want to be the best I can here.

“So what I’ve done before goes into my backpack and I start a new career in some way because people didn’t know who I was before I came. I will try to do my best to be one of the best.

“That’s what I am so concentrated on all of my things such as nutrition, how I sleep, how I train, how I analyse games.

“A career lasts maybe 10 years, so from now until 10 years on, I’d be grateful if I could do other things, so it is good to have ambitions and strive for something that is great.”

Sviatchenko also confirmed he has major goals that he wants to achieve with Celtic in the near future.

The uncompromising stopper is desperate to help Ronny Deila’s side beat Aberdeen at Celtic Park on Sunday and clinch their fifth consecutive Ladbrokes Premiership title.

Then he has set his sights on playing in the group stages of the Champions League with the Scottish champions next season.

“Sunday is a good opportunity and we’ll do our best to focus,” he said. “It’s important to perform and if we are doing our things as a team, we are a better team and we will win.

“We want to finish off what we are doing this season and, mathematically, it is still available for Aberdeen, so we need one more point.

“Personally, I’m not thinking of the Champions League yet. We focus on the present, go for a nice holiday and back focused for the qualifiers.

“But performing with Celtic in Europe would be really something I’d be really happy about. I’ve tried it with FC Mydjylland, where I showed I could easily play at that level.

“That’s the next step for me with Celtic, to be challenged in Europe. It is not disrespectful to say the expectation here is much bigger.

“It’s good as a footballer to play under those circumstances as it gives you the knowledge you can be an even better player if you have experienced that. That’s also why I chose Celtic, to be challenged in those ways.”