Celtic defender Dedryck Boyata reveals past Everton snub.
Dedryck Boyata has admitted to The Record that he turned down moves to Celtic and Everton, prior to joining the Hoops.
The Belgium centre-back arrived at Parkhead as a 23-year-old in 2015, during Ronny Deila’s stint in charge of Celtic.
Boyata, now 27, found himself on the fringes of things at Manchester City and only made six appearances during his final season at Eastlands.
He also endured unsuccessful loan spells at Bolton and FC Twente, and the big defender, who earns £14,000 per week in Glasgow [Daily Star], has suggested that he also rejected the chance to join Everton.
“I should have taken that step of joining Celtic even earlier,” he told The Record. “Under Roberto Mancini I got my first chances. I was 19 at the time. After that season I was able to go to Everton. I should have done that.
“City became bigger and bigger every year. That does not make it easy for a youth player to continue to grow.”
Had things gone differently, Boyata might now be a Premier League player despite snubbing Everton, after Celtic turned down a £9 million bid by Fulham during the summer.
But he is still only seven months away from being a free agent and unless Celtic can tie him down to a new deal, a January exit is a distinct possibility.
An excellent World Cup campaign saw Boyata’s profile soar and it wouldn’t be a major shock if a top-flight English club were to try bring him back to the Premier League this winter.
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