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Deila praises Boyata but wants his squad trimmed

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Image for Deila praises Boyata but wants his squad trimmed

Ronny Deila has vowed to bring out the best in Dedryck Boyata.

As soon as the transfer window opened the Celtic boss snapped up the central defender from Manchester City as Jason Denayer returned to his parent club.

With speculation over the departure of Virgil van Dijk, Boyata could be the key defender in Celtic’s bid to reach the group stage of the Champions League.

Deila has been impressed by Boyata in pre-season training and believes that the player can realise his potential with a regular run of matches.

He is a great talent with very high ability,” Deila said today about his new signing. “He needs matches now to get match fit, our task now is to get his potential out.

If we can do that we’ll have a top international player in our squad. Like all players, though, he needs time to adapt and settle.”

Deila has to work to a budget that anticipates Europa League football- if Celtic reach the group stage of the Champions League the club can expect to pick up an additional £20m.

That money won’t go straight into the transfer budget but will allow Deila to complete some last minute shopping if a suitable target becomes available. After a turbulent first year in charge Deila knows his squad better than ever and is keen to promote younger players into his top team squad.

While most supporters are looking for the Norwegian to bring in new faces the Celtic boss has admitted that he wants players to leave to create openings in his squad for players from the development side.

I’m very happy with the squad we have,” Deila added. “We need a smaller squad as well. It’s not just about getting players in. Today that there were a lot of youngsters training because we had room for them and that’s important for the future.” 

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