RONNY DEILA says all Dedryck Boyata needs to flourish as a footballer is a little love and attention.
In his six years at Manchester City, Celtic’s new £1.5-million summer signing made only 13 appearances.
And with his two loan spells at Bolton and FC Twente having provided just 19 games more, at 24 years old he has less top-team experience than Everton’s James McCarthy when he turned 17!
However, like a good gardener assessing a neglected shrub, his new manager sees not only what the Belgian defender offers at the moment, but also what he can become.
“Dedryck is an athlete. He’s quick and very good on the ball. He’s tall and good in the air,” said Deila.
“You add those qualities together, and I know that if we can get the best out of him, he has the potential to be a top
international player.
“Manchester City agree, and they will follow him in the future to see if he can take the next step, as Virgil van Dijk is trying to do just now.
“But first Dedryck needs matches, and he needs love and trust to get those matches.”
The Norwegian believes he is the right man to supply that kind of nurturing, and points to Jason Denayer’s dramatic improvement in his loan spell from Manchester City last season as evidence of his claim.
“If you look at where Jason was when he joined us, and where he is now, you can see what I am talking about,” Deila continued.
“He was someone who had also been fourth choice at his club, and short of playing minutes.
“But then, after he showed in training and practice that he was ready, we gave him the opportunity to play over time.
“And, just like in a relationship, things get better over time.
“In the end, we got a very, very good player in Denayer and Boyata is going to be good as well.
“I’ve watched him train and I know a lot of players who have been around him.
“Listen, it’s not easy to play your way into the Manchester City team when they can buy players for £35m (a reference to ex-Porto star Eliquim Mangala) in your position.
“The pressure is so tough at City. The level is very, very high. There are no
youngsters coming through there.
“Scotland will offer Dedryck a better stage. The level of the league isn’t as high as it is in England.
“We have good material to work with, so if we get his development right, we can make him a top player.”
Celtic’s pre-season schedule begins on Wednesday night with the St Mirren Park challenge match against Dutch side Den Bosch, followed by the visit of Dukla Prague to Paisley on Saturday.
Deila said: “These games will be tough and that is good because with the Champions League qualifiers coming up early we need to get ourselves going.
“The players know what they have to do. Now the goal is to get that as quickly as possible through our work in training and in the pre-season matches.
“If things get quicker, then I know it is going to be very hard for other teams to beat us.”
Enjoy the convenience of having The Sunday Post delivered as a digital ePaper straight to your smartphone, tablet or computer.
Subscribe for only £5.49 a month and enjoy all the benefits of the printed paper as a digital replica.
Subscribe