Belgium as a country are thoroughly happy with their World Cup run and getting to third place in Russia. The squad were welcomed home as heroes and had a big reception in Brussels’ Grand Place.
This week’s edition of Sport/Foot has a feature on most of the players involved in the journey and one of those is Dedryck Boyata.
The magazine has enlisted former Celtic player and assistant manager John Collins to give his view on the player, his progress and the future.
Collins explained just how Boyata ended up at Celtic Park: “At the time, I was assistant to the Norwegian Ronny Deila at Celtic. I went with him to Manchester to negotiate the loan of Patrick Roberts. And we were still looking for reinforcement for our defence. Suddenly, we thought of Boyata. So we went back to Manchester to meet him and talk to the management. We had good references on him. And we had arguments to present to him.
“For example, I explained to him that if he came to Glasgow, he would be a starter every week, play in the European Cup, discover a very nice stadium where 60,000 people create a fire atmosphere, work in a magnificent training centre. In fact, it was not very difficult to sell Celtic! He was very receptive.”
That was in 2015 and since then Boyata has matured more as a player and this summer found himself playing for Belgium at the World Cup.
It’s certainly upped his profile and will make it harder for Brendan Rodgers to keep the defender at Celtic, especially given the player’s contract situation.
Collins admitted that a transfer could be on the horizon: “Today, he still has one year of contract there. This is probably the right time to go elsewhere. He has clearly evolved since leaving Manchester, he is now ready for the Premier League, to be on the pitch every week. I would see him in France, too, if he chooses a new intermediate stage. When you have a good World Cup a year from the end of your contract… you are in a wonderful situation because you know that there will be offers.”
Celtic plan a new contract for the Belgian, but it’s not going to be easy.
