Dedryck Boyata was pretty much guaranteed to leave the club, but when the manager confirms it, it certainly hurts the Celtic faithful. Maybe some fans would have still been clinging to a glimmer of hope that a turn around can happen in the saga but Rodgers all but confirmed that the Belgian defender is soon going to leave the club.
Rodgers was quoted as saying,”Dedryck will leave at some point. You look at him now and you see he is really defined now as a player who has gained great confidence the last two years, the last 18 months in particular. Going to the World Cup, he has proven there at a good level that he can play with world-class players. He is entering into his years at 28 where he can show it. I have always said when he is concentrated that he is a top-class player.”
So there is no room for speculation now as the Belgian is set to leave. Now that Boyata has entered into the final year of his contract, the club should look to sell him in January so that they can recover some transfer funds. Losing him for free next summer could be a bad deal for the club and they might repent their decision of not letting him leave in the summer when they had a lucrative £9m deal on the table from English club Fulham.
Boyata made himself unavailable for selection during the Champions League qualifiers and maybe he could be blamed for their exit in that tournament. Rodgers has come out and backed him publicly even after that but one can understand why the gaffer had to take such a step as otherwise, the Belgian defender could have again done something similar. However, credit to Boyata though as he has looked committed after the window closed and is still the best defender on the pitch for the Hoops.
The club should already start looking for his replacements so that the Bhoys can have their man in January. Leicester City loanee Filip Benkvic is also likely to go away after the end of the season, so the Glaswegian giants are going to fall short on the centre back options if they don’t act early in the winter transfer window.
Keeping Boyata could be tempting for Rodgers until the summer. In reality, there is a chance the defender runs out his contract at Celtic Park. However, in that case, the club has to deliver the Premiership title as only then can we say the decision to keep hold of him was justified. If the club misses out on the title and lose Boyata for free, it would be a disastrous situation on all fronts for the club and in that scenario, Rodgers might also have to part ways with the club in the summer.
