Gamboa feels international duty has pushed him out at Celtic

Cristian Gamboa has not held back in speaking his mind when it comes to his absence from the Celtic starting eleven so far this season.

Coming via the Evening Times, the pacy right-back has come out to say that he feels his commitment to playing for Costa Rica has cost him his place at Celtic and he feels that his decision to play for his country in the Gold Cup this year has not gone down well with the Hoops bosses.

Instead of having a regular pre-season with Celtic, Gamboa played in the Gold Cup with his country — meaning he missed vital training sessions with Brendan Rodgers as well as skipping out on the club’s Champions League qualifiers, which they got through without him.

Gamboa said:

I decided to represent my country at the Gold Cup tournament this summer.

Unfortunately, I think this has had career consequences for me at Celtic. Not doing pre-season with Celtic has proved to be very expensive for me.

Gamboa helped his country to World Cup qualification, too, whilst him and other team mates have been on regular international duty.

He continued:

There are decisions made by other people who pick the team and it is not in my hands.

Apparently, playing at the Gold Cup was not taken in a good way at my club and I have had to wait to play again

Gamboa joined Celtic from Premier League side West Bromwich Albion in 2016 and has since made 15 appearances for the club.