THE comments from Dedryck Boyata’s dad yesterday about the error his son made in being seduced by the money and leaving Belgian football as a 16 year old to join Manchester City are very welcome.
“Dedryck lost lots of time in Manchester,” his dad Bienvenu said.
“The offer he received at the age of 16 was seemed difficult to refuse – £200,000 a year? It was even more!
“If I can advise parents – do not go abroad too quickly.
“Take the time to quietly grow in Belgium, as Tielemans or Dennis Praet did.
“Some succeed in their ambitions, but most give up, see their dream go up in smoke, and then return in a lower league.”
Boyata failed to make the break-though at Man City and Celtic were able to offer him a new start and a chance to play regular first team football, including of course European competition.
The player started well enough but probably due to his inexperience, errors crept into his game and by the time Brendan Rodgers arrived at the club, Bienvenu boy was injured and pretty much out of favour.
Had he been sold at that time then few Celtic supporters would have been too bothered. He spent six months trying to get fit and working hard to get a first team start. He got one game on the plastic pitch at Kilmarnock in Rodgers’ first six months in charge but that was it.
However after the winter break, Celtic were away to Albion Rovers in the Scottish Cup in the first match back and Boyata started. He hasn’t looked back since.
By the time he went to the World Cup in the summer, where he played in all three wins in the group stages, he has been an important part in the two trebles that Celtic had won.
Celtic had an offer on the table for a new contract and there were optimistic noises coming from the club that he would sign on. However his agent had other ideas and the player got caught up in an unsavoury few weeks between him and the club that saw the player refuse to play in the vital Champions League qualifier at AEK Athens.
Brendan Rodgers had to use all his managerial skills to sort out that mess but he did and Boyata returned to the team and has been a stand-out ever since.
The move that he craved – to Fulham in the summer – is perhaps a little more distant today as he approaches the first day in January when he is free to speak to clubs about a summer move. His current Celtic contract ends in May 2019. Fulham yesterday sacked their manager Slavisa Jokanovic -see HERE.
Looking back in the summer, Boyata’s unhappiness seemed to be just one of a number of issues that existed and these seem to have been addressed. Certainly there is a better atmosphere about the club and this is reflected in both the improvement in form and results and also in the club’s activity in signing up current stars onto new contracts.
Players such as Tom Rogic, James Forrest, Leigh Griffiths, Olivier Ntcham and Ryan Christie have all signed up for The Celtic push towards the 10 in a Row target, and others such as Mikael Lustig and skipper Scott Brown are set to follow.
Bienvenu Boyata has seen his son’s career blossom since moving to Celtic, in total contrast to the stagnation he talked about yesterday that happened when he went to Manchester City.
Another young player in a very similar boat is Paddy Roberts, who was the most highly rated young English player of his age when at Fulham. He left to join Manchester City and other than a successful loan period at Celtic, he has not made any breakthrough whatsoever.
For footballing reasons Celtic seem a much better fit for players like Dedryck Boyata and Paddy Roberts. Brendan Rodgers is building something special at Celtic – maybe Boyata and Roberts could not choose a better place to play their football.
