RONNY DEILA has called on Emilio Izaguirre to take a break this summer for the benefit of his club career.

 

The Honduran full-back helped his country qualify for the CONCACAF Gold Cup which takes places in the United States and Canada this July - at a time when Celtic face their most significant dates of the season.

The Parkhead side will begin the first of three qualifying rounds as they push for a place in the lucrative group stages of the UEFA Champions League while Honduras will feature in the Gold Cup.

At the minute there are a trio of friendlies pencilled in for June before the tournament kicks off and Deila will request that Izaguirre miss those and take a holiday instead.

But with Izaguirre the first choice left-back for the club, it remains to be seen whether or not Celtic will request that he puts his club commitments before country.

"I have spoken to him about June because he has some games there," said the Celtic manager.

"He needs a vacation, that is the most important thing. He has played consistently for four or five years without even one week vacation so he is a strong player but he needs a rest. Hopefully he will not go to play the games in June. I will speak to him."

Meanwhile, Deila has insisted that he will not look to cash in on Virgil Van Dijk this summer.

The Norwegian has admitted that Celtic remain in the hunt for a central defender since he anticipates that Jason Denayer will return to Manchester City. Given that he is set to lose one half of his central defensive unit he is reluctant to be forced into making wholesale changes - particularly given how early the Champions League qualifying games are.

"Virgil is our player," he said. "He will stay, that's what we want, to have him through the Champions League.

"He is so important to us. He still has things to work on to become even better. His chance will come in the future but he is one of the players we really want to keep.

"Virgil is the leader in the defence, so he is vital for us.

"Any money we could get for Virgil can't compare with the money we would get from the Champions League."

Celtic have been linked with former Rangers kid Danny Wilson, but while Deila acknowledged his preparations for summer signings have begun there has been no contact between Celtic and Hearts about the defender.

"It is one of many names we are looking at," said the Celtic manager. "I know all about him, of course. He is a good player but there is nothing in that right now. We are looking for central defenders. That is an important target because of Jason [Denayer] and also because of the situation with Virgil. Hopefully we will keep him."

Meanwhile, Deila has told Liam Henderson that he remains part of the plans at Celtic despite the youngster being farmed out on loan to Rosenborg.

"Liam is a very talented player. He needed games and this was a good move for him," explained Deila.

"We have a lot of options in midfield and he can play now until 1st July and get a lot of experience.

"It is the biggest club in Norway with high expectations.

"He was keen. That is what is good with Liam - he really wants to play and to develop. I was very clear to him that he not going away because I don't want him here but because I think it will be good for his development.

"If I was being selfish I would keep him here because we maybe need him but I know that it is best for him and the club to go out."