John Hartson believes that Dedryck Boyata should should sign a new contract at Celtic and watch his value soar to £29m.
A £9m offer from Fulham seems good business for a player with less than a year to run on his contract but Hartson feels that Celtic could land much much more.
The Welshman was involved in several big money moves in the nineties between Arsenal, West Ham, Wimbledon and Coventry before joining Celtic in 2001 for a club record £6m fee.
Over the next three days some incredible fees are expected to be paid before the English transfer window closes with £20m the starting fee for anyone with a years experience of playing in the EPL
In the Evening Times Hartson states:
“Fulham have just paid £20m for Alfie Mawson. The lad has played just 18 months of Premier League football. He hasn’t played in the Champions League. He hasn’t been to a World Cup.
“So if you are Celtic then you are thinking, well, if we get Boyata on a long-term deal it works out well for all parties. His value won’t go down if he keeps on progressing. There will be interest in him this time next year.
“I know that there is no real loyalty in football. We all know Celtic can’t compete with the wages that are on offer south of the border. And I also know that Boyata’s agent was proving a little elusive when Celtic were trying to discuss a contract before the World Cup. But to me, it’s one where you have to look at the bigger picture.
“Dedryck has had times as a Celtic player when it just wasn’t happening for him. He has had times when he wasn’t playing, when his game was strewn with mistakes and you could feel the lack of confidence from him every time he walked onto the pitch.
“I think the manager got the best out of him and got him to the level where he has found himself in a Belgian squad that finished third at the World Cup this summer. So I am sure that he’ll be in a good place.”
Boyata is in the Celtic squad to face AEK Athens on Wednesday night but isn’t expected to be in the starting XI.
Celtic paid Manchester City £1.5m to sign Boyata in 2015 when Ronny Deila was manager.