‘THE BOSS BLOCKED A MOVE,’ IZAGUIRRE

EMILIO IZAGUIRRE has explained that Brendan Rodgers blocked a move from Celtic in the summer – as CQN revealed at the time. 

The Honduran international left-back, who is out of contract at the end of the season, was poised to quit the Hoops in pursuit of first team football elsewhere.

Izaguirre, of course, lost his No.3 slot to the up-and-coming Kieran Tierney, who also attracted the attention of Scotland boss Gordon Strachan who awarded the 19-year-old defender his first cap.

However, the youngster will now be sidelined for at least two months with an ankle injury following a freak training ground accident last week and Rodgers immediately turned to the back-up full-back.

The popular 30-year-old played in the 1-1 Champions League draw with Borussia Monchengladbach on Tuesday and is now looking forward to an extended run in the top side.

However, he admitted: “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.

“Sometimes you play, sometimes you don’t. That’s what happens when you are a footballer. And 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 added: “Of course, I feel sorry for KT that he is injured and will be out for two months.

“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.

“But I need to focus on football and continue to fight for the team and for the club.

”On Tuesday, it was disappointing because we felt that in the last 10 minutes we could have got the win.

“We tried everything we could, we had chances, but we didn’t get the goal.

“Overall, we showed great concentration for 90 minutes, but at the end of the game, we had chances and a lot of pressure. But football is like that. Sometimes you have chances, but you draw.

“Now we have to think about the Scottish Premiership and also the game against Barcelona in the Champions League. We must try to win that game to have any chance qualifying.

“We have two tough games, but we need to give it our best and have the maximum concentration for 90 minutes. We have to focus on Barcelona and try to beat them.

“We need to work hard and try to get good results against Barca and Manchester City and then see where we finish in the group.”