Emilio Izaguirre has revealed that Brendan Rodgers blocked him from leaving Celtic during the summer.
Kieran Tierney’s rapid emergence last season left the Honduran on the outside looking in after five seasons as an automatic first pick.
While Izaguirre and his family are settled in Scotland sitting on the sidelines is no use for an internationalist at 30 years of age.
With a year left on his contract Celtic would have been able to pick up a fee for Izaguirre but Rodgers insisted that Izzaguirre stayed on rather than bring in a back-up for Tierney.
“There was a time when I thought I would be leaving Celtic and Scotland,” he admitted after playing in Tuesday’s draw away to Borussia Monchengladbach.
“Last summer, I tried to move to another club to play more football but the manager told me he needed to keep 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. Tomorrow, maybe something else will happen but when you play for a club like Celtic, you always have to be ready. When you get the chance, you have to be ready to take it and be focused.”
Izaguirre started his first SPFL match of the season last week at Ross County- the day before Tierney suffered ankle ligament damage on the training ground.
Tierney is expected to be out of action for two months giving Izaguirre an unexpected chance of regular first team football- including a date with Lionel Messi in the Champions League.
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