Nir Bitton has dismissed speculation that he is on his way out of Celtic.
Last month the midfielder was the subject of a bid from Espanyol and has regularly been linked with a move to England.
Bitton signed a new contract last season keeping him at Celtic until 2020 and insists that a transfer isn’t on his mind.
“I don’t think of talk of other clubs,” he said. “I’m really happy here. Celtic are a big club, and it’s a big honour for me to be part of this club. As long as I’m here I will try to do my best and hopefully I will stay for many years. I don’t think about these kind of things. It’s good for newspapers, but I don’t think about it.
“I play for one of the biggest clubs in Europe, so I don’t think about anything else. As long as you are part of Celtic you don’t think about other clubs. Celtic gave me the opportunity to show myself, that’s it.”
Bitton picked up an ankle injury in the opening minutes of the 3-1 defeat from Barcelona and will find out the extent of the damage today.
The Israeli internationalist missed the return leg of the Champions League qualifier against Lincoln Red Imps and was a second half substitute away to Astana.
After signing for Celtic from Ashdod in 2013 he made his debut away to AC Milan in the San Siro but his Champions League involvement was curtailed by a red card picked up against Ajax on matchday 3.
Looking towards the return match with Astana on Wednesday Bitton added: “They are a very good side and, although we scored the away goal, nothing is finished.
“Every 90 minutes in football is different and we need to make sure we play our best to go through to the next level.
“In football you never know. The only thing I’m sure of is that we will try to do our best and hopefully we will go through.
“We don’t think about the past. We think about the present, we think about right now.
“If we want to go to the Champions League then we need to get through these kind of games.”
