Celtic

The Dedryck dilemma

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Celtic have a massive week ahead with a place in the Europa League and the Glasgow Derby looming on the horizon, it is no secret where our weaknesses are, our back line has been a mess for some time now.

In the heart of the issue is Dedryck Boyata with Brendan’s favourite defender yet to commit to a new deal and yet to seal a move to another team, he has also not been replaced which is of far more concern.

We can’t go into these games with Hendry and Ajer as our Centre Half pairing, they simply can’t keep a clean sheet together, Ajer looks a mainstay of our defensive structure but it will be who pairs with him that will be of interest.

The first choice should he be available will be Dedryck Boyata, a player who is far from popular among the support but seems very popular among the players and with the manager.

I see a couple of options for Celtic in this week, the first is the option I hope comes to pass:

Firstly: Sell Boyata hopefully for around 9 million which is what Fulham offered us (I wish we had bit the hand for that) and bring in a quality replacement immediately.

Secondly: Play Boyata and talk him into a 1-year contract extension and then let him mimic Stuart Armstrong with offers over 10 million listened to in January and next summer, then by quality with that money.

Thirdly: Let Boyata’s contract run down and lose a small fortune with a very unpopular player at the heart of Celtic’s team in the chase for 8 in a row.

The last option is a fiscal nightmare after our exit from the Champions League, the second option an unpalatable reminder of last seasons Agent fuelled contract drama, the first looks the best but is not without risk.

Throwing a new signing into a Glasgow Derby before he has even put his deodorant in his locker isn’t the smartest of options, it would be a pure baptism of fire in a position which by definition will be relentlessly attacked.

Simply there is no silver bullet.

This week will tell us a lot about how the season will pan out, it will also tell us a lot about the board and its level of commitment to the progress of the playing group, 3 new faces were earlier mooted, if they don’t arrive then expect to see protests in the stands.

One of those must be a quality Centre Half, another loan deal for Benkovic or another Man City player or a Kolo Toure style 1-year contract for veteran John Terry are the band-aid on a bullet wound solutions we fear we will see.

Even they somehow are better than the status quo, truly Dedryck is a dilemma we desperately need to be solved.

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