TROUBLED Celtic striker Leigh Griffiths was reported missing by concerned friends this week, it has emerged.
The 28-year-old will be out of football for personal reasons “for a little period of time” as he “seeks professional help,” revealed Hoops boss Brendan Rodgers on Wednesday.
Pals of the footballer alerted police on Monday after the player went missing for a period of time.
He was later traced in Edinburgh City Centre.
A Police Scotland spokesman told the Evening Times: “Police were called at around 6.20pm to the Park Drive area, in Wallyford, on Monday, December 10 to a report of a concern for a person who was later found less than two hours later in Edinburgh City Centre.”
READ MORE: Senior Celtic players intervened to alert Brendan Rodgers to Leigh Griffiths' situation
Griffiths, who recently returned from illness and another calf injury, came off the bench in the 5-1 Ladbrokes Premiership win over Kilmarnock at the weekend, but is out of Celtic’s Europa League Group B clash with Salzburg at Parkhead on Thursday night.
Rodgers explained an incident with Griffiths brought the striker’s illness to a head when a number of senior players intervened in order to try and facilitate some help for the Scotland internationalist.
“A couple of the senior players rang me when I got to know about an incident that happened,” said Rodgers. “I was then able to act from there.”
The Hoops boss also admitted Griffiths had been dealing with “a number of issues outside of the football environment.”
The Northern Irishman said: “Leigh will be taken out of football now for a little period of time.
“Leigh has had ongoing issues now for a number of months and he has done amazing to play to the level and score some of the goals he has.
“But he has reached the point where it is a struggle for him and we are going to give him all the professional help that he possibly needs to get himself into a good place again.
JOHN HARTSON: This is not about Leigh Griffiths the footballer - it's about the man and the rest of his life
“But in order to do that he needs to find a happiness.
“He is a father of five children, he is a great guy, but football and life is tough for him.
“We will seek the professional help. There will be an assessment of where he is at and there will be a plan in place to help him moving forward.
“We want to help him with that and we will let you know another time when he is back.”
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