Brendan Rodgers comments about Dedryck Boyata sums up Celtic’s rise

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Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers is willing to gamble with a potential £6 million it seems – an unprecedented risk for the club.

Speaking to The Glasgow Evening Times, Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers has said that he is willing to risk losing Dedryck Boyata on a free transfer for the sake of keeping him this summer.

The linked-away Belgium international is out of contract at Celtic next July and the Hoops will be vulnerable to losing him on a Bosman in 12 months if they do not cash in over the coming weeks.

Boyata, who helped his country to a third-place World Cup finish, has courted interest from Fulham, Lazio and Lyon, with The Record claiming that Rodgers values him at around £6 million.

He told The Glasgow Evening Times: “We don’t want to lose him, he’s a very valuable player for us, but at some point if he doesn’t sign his contract then of course he’ll go into his last year and then naturally what happens there is he either goes onto another club or stays.

“That’ll be up to him in the end but at this point in time he’s very important for us to help us achieve our goals early on in the season.

“I’m not sure at this stage there’s an offer that would make us even think about it because of the stage of the season we’re at.”

With that in mind, it looks like the Celtic boss is willing to roll the dice on Boyata, with the potential loss of £6 million at stake.

But the fact that they’re in that position sums up how phenomenally well he has done since being appointed at Parkhead two years ago.

Not only has the 45-year-old masterminded back-to-back domestic trebles, which had never been achieved in Scotland, but Rodgers has also contributed to around £60 million in revenue, after leading the Bhoys to the group stages of the Champions League in each of his two seasons.

Keeping Boyata is a huge gamble, but it’s one that wouldn’t have been taken during Ronny Deila’s reign or previous eras.

In fact, £6 million, up until Odsonne Edouard joined this summer, was Celtic’s all-time record transfer fee, but they’re potentially writing off that amount by holding on to the 27-year-old and that more than anything else illustrates how Rodgers has taken the club to a new level entirely.