Dubai winter escape was turning point as Boyata battled to save his Celtic career
LAST January, Dedryck Boyata boarded a flight to the Middle East racked with uncertainty. As the defender settled into his seat for the seven-anda-half-hour journey to Celtic’s training camp in Dubai, there was a strong temptation to cut his losses and ask for a move out of the club in the mid-season transfer window.
Selected just once by the club’s new manager Brendan Rodgers during the opening portion of the season, Boyata feared his time was up. A £1.5million signing from Manchester City 18 months earlier, his first campaign under Ronny Deila had barely been a success and injuries had played havoc with his attempts to convince Rodgers of his merits in the first half of year two.
One way or another Boyata knew he was approaching make-or-break point. As it happened the warm weather training camp in the Emirate served as a fresh start.
Rodgers selected Boyata for the team’s first match back on Scottish soil, a Scottish Cup tie against Albion Rovers, and the Belgian internationalist strolled through the game before heading the winning goal in a league game against St Johnstone three days later.
From there he was a first-choice pick, earning Premiership and Scottish Cup winner’s medals as Celtic completed the domestic Treble. In total he made 44 appearances for Celtic in 2017, a healthy figure given the fact he missed the start of the current campaign with a knee injury sustained in pre-season.
‘If you look back at 2017 it was a great year,’ reflected Boyata.
‘I started in this Celtic team in January and played a lot of games until an injury setback. But after that I got back in and I’ve stayed there.
‘I had only played one game going into the last winter break, so I thought January was the time to go and seek football somewhere else. It was an unsettling period for me. The transfer window was open and we went to Dubai, but I didn’t know what would happen from day to day.
‘I had to train and I did whatever I was told to do. As a footballer, you want to play games so when I wasn’t then of course I was thinking about going elsewhere.
‘To get to the next step, you need to know what the exact situation is but, thankfully,) it never got to the point where I sat down with the manager to discuss what to do because when we got back from Dubai, I was playing.’
A Treble winner, regular Champions League starter and regular member of the Belgian international squad, it’s fair to say Boyata packed a lot into 2017 but the new year has brought a fresh set of question marks.
Although Boyata and Jozo Simunovic established themselves as Rodgers’ preferred pairing over the course of the year, neither ended the period on top form, with Simunovic losing his place to youngster Kristoffer Ajer and the signing of German stopper Marvin Compper suggesting further change in the backline.
At 27, Boyata is no novice but years of stagnation in the Manchester City youth system left him playing catch-up in terms of career development. Although a powerful physical specimen, there is something distinctly boyish about his demeanour and he clearly views the arrival of Compper from RB Leipzig as an opportunity to learn.
Boyata added: ‘I’m looking forward to working with Marvin. He’s an experienced player at 32 and has a cap for Germany, so I’m sure he’s a very good player.
‘I want to stay in the team because I have the World Cup coming up with Belgium. This could be a big six months for me but in any team you need a bit of freshness.
‘It’s almost impossible to play every game at 100-per-cent fit, so we need players to help us. I want to play every game now until the end of the season, but I’ve had examples before when I’ve been injured or my body just couldn’t cope and I’ve had to come out of the team.
‘So having a new defender here can only help us. When people say we need new centre-backs, I can’t change that. If any team has ambitions, they always want to improve and have the best players they possibly can.
‘Big clubs want to win everything. It’s not just the staff, it’s the players and the fans too — they always want to change something. As a player, I can’t affect that.
‘I want to be on the pitch and there’s only one guy I need to convince and that’s the manager.’
Rodgers has long believed Boyata to be the best-equipped centre-back at his disposal but recognised the need to build the player up psychologically and physically before exposing him to a run in the team.
A year on, Boyata in many ways remains a project. There are times when he appears to switch off, something he can get away with against Scottish domestic opposition but a flaw exposed by Bayern Munich’s Kingsley Coman and others in the Champions League.
To be fair to the stopper, he is not afraid to acknowledge the flaws in his game — and put in the hours to try and eradicate them.
He explains: ‘I’ve always tried to improve my game, especially as a defender. I watch games non-stop and try to see what I could have done better.
‘In games it’s about trying to stay focused to not make any mistakes in 90 minutes. Basically, just to defend better.
‘If I make a mistake, I look back at the video to see what I did wrong. The manager has been good in that aspect. Every player here knows what we’re supposed to do. And if we don’t, it will be analysed, talked about and then we see what we can do to change it.’
After Celtic’s tired performance against Rangers last weekend, Rodgers declared that there would be a ‘revolving door’ in January. In terms of his defence, he has already told Erik Sviatchenko that he is free to leave while speculation regarding Simunovic has resurfaced, with Burnley said to be interested.
In addition to the signing of Compper, a bid is also being considered for Jack Hendry of Dundee. Boyata knows his own future could also come into question.
‘Looking ahead, you just never know what might happen, I’m not going to lie to you.
‘At the moment, I feel really focused and settled.’
It never got to the point where I had to sit down with the manager