Brendan Rodgers hasn’t given up hope of getting Dedryck Boyata to sign a new Celtic contract.
The defender is out of contract at the end of the season and able to sign a pre-contract deal in nine weeks time.
Boyata was initially out in the cold under Rodgers but after the January 2017 winter break in Dubai he emerged as the first choice central defender.
During the summer Celtic rejected a £9m offer from Fulham to take the defender to the EPL with Boyata and his agent making their feelings known.
It looked like the 27-year-old would never play again for Celtic but Rodgers used his diplomatic skills to get him back on board where he has been virtually flawless this season.
After spending the summer alongside World Cup team-mates picking up wages of over £200,000 a week it seems highly unlikely that Celtic could come up with an offer to keep Boyata beyond the end of his current contract.
“There is always a possibility, but we just have to see,” Rodgers told The Sun about a new contract for the defender. “It is between him and the club.
“What is good is that he is focused and playing well. His development in the last couple of years has been fantastic.
“All I ask, whether they’re here for one day more or ten years more, is they give their all. I can ask no more from Dedryck because that’s what he has done.”
Boyata was signed by Ronny Deila in the summer of 2015 from Manchester City on a four year contract.
He is the only member of the Celtic squad not to have signed a new contract since Rodgers took over.
