Izaguirre reveals he wanted to leave Celtic in the summer

Emilio Izaguirre has spoken out about his return to the Celtic squad after almost a year out in the cold, following the injury to Kieran Tierney last week.

Izaguirre has been thrust back into the side since that injury, with less than a year remaining on his current contract and only made his fifth appearance of the season on Tuesday against Borussia Monchengladbach.

As quoted by the Glasgow Evening Times, the left-back said:

There was a time when I thought I would be leaving Celtic and Scotland.

In the summer, I tried to move to another club to play more football. But the manager told me that he needed me in case anything happened to young KT.

Now I am playing again in the Champions League and I am just focusing on helping Celtic succeed. This is football. It can change any day. Maybe tomorrow, something else will happen.

The 30-year-old Honduran international was thought to be leaving Celtic in the summer after what seemed like an emotional farewell away to St Johnstone and at Paradise against Motherwell in May.

He added:

Sometimes you play, sometimes you don’t. That’s what happens when you are a footballer. But when you play for a club like Celtic, you always have to be ready.

I play for Celtic but I am also a Celtic fan. I want the team to do well and I want to help the club in any way that I can.

I am very disappointed for KT because he is a young player who has been very good for a long time now. He is a fantastic player and he will come back from this injury even stronger.

His performances when he first arrived led to him being named the SFA Players’ Player of the Year due to his outstanding performances for Celtic.

The emergence of Tierney from the youth squad has seen Izaguirre’s first-team action become scarce, but will play a key role in the squad over the next two months at least while the young Scot recovers from ankle ligament damage.

Izaguirre will be in action once again for Celtic on Saturday at home to Inverness, before the final international break of the year.