For a very long time when Brendan Rodgers was in charge at Leicester City, Jannik Vestergaard barely set foot on a football pitch.
The Dane was shunned to one side by the now Celtic manager, but everything has turned around for the centre-back since the arrival of Enzo Maresca, who has fully trusted the defender this season.
In turn, the Leicester has repaid this faith with good performances, which have seen him return to the Denmark national team after a 17-month absence, which the player was more than happy to talk about with Bold and other members of the media.
Asked if he ever felt like his international career was over when he was down in the dumps in England, he said: “I didn’t really feel like I was out, even if I wasn’t there, but I wouldn’t have opted out either. I didn’t just get a little playing time, I didn’t get any playing time. It really hurt not to be a part of something that I feel I was a part of.”
Not picked for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the Leicester player was forced to watch his teammates from afar, and felt he had to support them even if it was painful knowing that he could have helped them.
Still, that’s all behind him now, and he’s just glad that Kasper Hjulmand was ready to give him a role in the Denmark team.
Vestergaard added: “It’s really nice to be back. For me, the national team is the biggest, both career-wise and emotionally, so to have been out and see it all from a distance compared to now be in a place where I have earned my place, it makes me both happy and proud.”
The 31-year-old has started in all but one of the 16 Championship games this season under Maresca, totally 1350 minutes of football, which is a huge increase on the 193 minutes he managed all of last season, all in the cups, under Brendan Rodgers.
