Dedryck Boyata’s hamstring injury against Aberdeen could mean he’s now played his last game for the club.
That’s because manager Brendan Rodgers has dropped a big hint Celtic will listen to offers in January.
The big Belgian has been a revelation since his episode against AEK Athens. His consistently dominating performances have won over the hearts of the Celtic support once again.
Boyata has made 122 appearances for the Hoops since arriving in 2015 from Manchester City. Rodgers, however, has been the man to totally transform his game over the last two-and-a-half years.
But it seems as if the Celtic manager is ready to let his big Belgian go in January. Speaking ahead of the Motherwell clash tomorrow night, Rodgers wasn’t overly-committal regarding keeping his star-man past January.
“Boyata is in the last year of his deal, but I am quite relaxed on it. He has to look at every option possible.
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“He has created a market for himself now because of how he has performed, which is great for him.
“We know at some point we will lose some of these players. But at the minute we know where it’s at”
No chance of keeping Boyata
Celtic are set to have a real issue in January with the way things are going. Boyata’s injury is likely to rule him out for several weeks at least. He also won’t want to risk himself too much if he’s eyeing a move away this Winter.
In truth, however, Celtic have no chance of keeping the Belgian. At 28, you get the sense he’s eyeing one last big move in his career.
He deserves all of the credit in the world for his performances this term regardless. Boyata had a real falling out with supporters over his failure to make the squad against AEK Athens back in August.
Since then, however, the big centre-back has made 20 appearances and has been as commanding as ever. Top-class displays against the likes of Rangers, RB Leipzig, and Rosenborg have shot him back into the good books at Parkhead.
The club are always keen to cash in on their assets when they can, however. They’ll likely think they can rake in some form of sum for Boyata, and it wouldn’t be surprising if he made no more appearances for Celtic this month.
That could spell danger over the course of the Winter break. Boyata still likely wants his move, and Celtic are even more likely to cash in.