Former Celtic star and regular BT Sport pundit John Hartson has said that his former side will be embarrassed after letting themselves let Dedryck Boyata head into the final year of his contract at Parkhead.
The Belgian defender was at the heart of a transfer controversy over the summer window, returning from international duty at the World Cup only to down tools and refuse to play for the Hoops as he tried to force a move away.
However, despite the indiscretions he remains not only as part of the squad but as a regular in the starting XI, but BT pundit Hartson says that the club will be “kicking themselves” after turning down an offer claimed to be in the £9million region from Premier League side Fulham.
He told the Evening Times: “Dedryck Boyata has got Celtic by the short and curlies now. The defender holds all the aces as he looks towards the January window and runs down his contract.
“And I think Celtic will be kicking themselves for the way the Boyata situation has played out. I suspect that when Fulham came in with the £9m for him in the middle of August that Celtic banked on the player getting them through the qualifiers and a team coming in for him at the last minute with a bigger bid.
“Neither transpired and, of course, no-one could really have predicted that Boyata would throw the toys out of the pram in the way that he did. I think a decent offer would have been made before Russia to the player.
“But he and his agent were canny enough to foresee that he’d be in a far better situation to negotiate on the back of a strong World Cup and that is the way it has played out. But it means Celtic now face losing their best defender and getting not a penny back on him walking out of the door.”
Opinion
Nail, meet the head of the hammer. Hartson has got his verdict over Boyata spot on and there will be few out there who could argue with his analysis of the situation. All the balls are in the Belgian’s court right now and he looks unlikely to continue his Celtic career past the summer of 2019, if not forcing a move in the January transfer window. Would the £9million from Fulham have been worth taking? The thought was obviously that Boyata would have helped Celtic qualify for the Champions League, resulting in the Hoops picking up another big payday, and that he could go for a decent price towards the end of summer, as was the case with Moussa Dembele. However, their inability to secure elite European football has set them back, while no one was willing to splash the cash on the Belgian defender – perhaps because of his behaviour in trying to force a move. It really has not worked out for anyone, but while Boyata will still secure a move away at some point, the Hoops have to deal with a case of what might have been when it comes to his transfer fee.