Celtic defender Boyata has starred for Belgium at the World Cup.
Celtic defender Dedryck Boyata has told the Glasgow Evening Times that Hoops manager Brendan Rodgers warned the Belgium international that he would be thrown on the scrapheap if he did not improve.
Former Liverpool and Swansea City manager Rodgers joined Celtic in the summer of 2016 with Boyata largely out of favour after a number of injuries hampered the former Manchester City’s progress at Parkhead.
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Boyata played just once in the Scottish Premiership throughout 2016, before working his way back into the side after the turn of the year during the 2016-17 campaign and has remained first choice since.
But during that early spell under Rodgers, Boyata claimed that Rodgers told him he would not play for Celtic if he could not show signs of improvement – something which he has done and earning place in Belgium’s World Cup squad.
“I was making mistakes at Celtic initially and had problems concentrating,” Boyata said. “Then along came Brendan Rodgers and he listed a number of things I had to improve.
“He made it clear to me that if I did not do what he had told me, I wouldn’t play for Celtic.”
He is now first choice at Celtic, and starred during his 39 league and cup appearances for the Hoops as they completed a second successive treble in Scotland during 2017-18.
A 10-time Belgium international, Boyata started all three of Belgium’s group games but was left out of the side during the last 16 3-2 win over Japan as Vincent Kompany returned from injury. But some Belgians want him to feature against Brazil.
Despite his excellent form, Boyata has less than a year remaining on his contract at Celtic, which the Daily Star claim is worth £14,000 a week.
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