It’s safe to say most Celtic fans have a wee place in their hearts for Emilio Izaguirre.

The Honduran spent seven years at Celtic where he mostly held down the left back position until Kieran Tierney exploded onto the scene.

Izzy left Celtic in the summer with our best wishes but what you may not know is the defender turned down the chance to stay at Celtic.

Brendan Rodgers didn’t want to see the player go and viewed him as a very good back up to Tierney. However, the defender was not happy with a lack of game time and at the age of 31 he just wanted first team football – no one can begrudge him that request. Instead of taking the money at Celtic he decided that playing was more important.

Speaking this week, Izzy opened up about his move away from the club he spent seven great years.

“I spent seven seasons at Celtic, winning 11 trophies, playing almost 50 UEFA Champions League games, nearly 300 matches overall, I carry them in my heart,” Izaguirre said.

“In the last six months I did not play much, but they did not want me to leave. I was offered a new contract, but I needed to play constantly to be able to play for my national team.

“I accepted the offer [from Al-Feiha] and I am enjoying here. The most important thing is that I am playing every game and enjoying it.”