Manchester City striker John Guidetti has claimed that he had to leave Celtic, despite rumours of a permanent offer, in order to become a world-class footballer.

The Swedish striker claimed that his international future came under major threat because of his time at Celtic. Despite being one of the biggest clubs in Scotland, Celtic are not considered as a major force in European football. The same can be said of the Scottish league as well. The demise of Rangers into the bottom tiers of Scottish football has also contributed to this condition.Guidetti is regarded as one of the promising young talents in world football.

The 23-year-old says that playing for Celtic means that there are very few big games over the course of the campaign. Since national team managers often tend to look at performance of players in big games,Guidetti says that it has affected his international career. The presence of World Cup stars like Zlatan Ibrahimovic has also limited his ability to get some game time for Sweden. It is widely anticipated thatGuidetti will return to City in the summer, but he may be set for a permanent move away from the Etihad stadium.Guidetti has spent the last few seasons on loan at clubs like Stoke City and Celtic.

"I was taken out of the national team after scoring, I think it was 11 goals in 10 matches, but I did not play.Then I understood. It felt like my goals at Celtic were not counted in the same way as in other leagues and I can understand.We played Inter and the stadium was packed. It was the most magical atmosphere I have experienced. But there are too few big games in Celtic.So I felt that my goals were not counted in the same way as in another league. There are too few 'big games'," said the striker.