Izzy: I want to stay three more years
EMILIO IZAGUIRRE has revealed he wants to stay for three more years at Celtic and extend his time with the Hoops to a decade.
And he’ll return to Glasgow today to prepare for the Champions League qualifiers instead of playing for his country in the Gold Cup after Brendan Rodgers held talks with Honduras boss Jorge Luis Pinto.
Izaguirre, 31, has been in Glasgow since 2010 and has amassed six titles, two Scottish Cups and two League Cups.
Rodgers activated a oneyear contract extension for the full-back earlier this year but Izaguirre has his heart set on reaching a 10-year milestone.
He said: “I am proud to have played for Celtic for so long and grateful to the fans and the board.
“The Celtic manager has told me he wants to keep me. My wish is to stay for three more years with my family then go to the MLS for two years and finish my career for four or five years at Motagua in Honduras.
“And my ultimate goal is to become the manager of Motagua. I have learned so much from the many great coaches I have played under and I think that would help me hugely when I retire and go into management.
“I have had offers to go to other teams for many years but at Celtic I get to play in Europe. In my view the Champions League is better than the World Cup.
“I have won many trophies and been treated well in Glasgow. God willing, that’s where my future will be.
“In my first season at Celtic, when I won Player of the Year, there was an offer from a Premier League club in England.
“I was close to going because some of my teammates had made that move to England but Celtic gave me the opportunity to continue with them and I decided to stay.”
Izaguirre – who has 88 caps for his country – won’t play in this summer’s Gold Cup in the USA so he can focus on featuring in Celtic’s Champions League bid to reach the group stages.
He added: “The manager spoke to Jorge Luis Pinto about my plans. I will do the full pre-season with Celtic because we have Champions League qualifying.”