Celtic defender Dedryck Boyata has admitted that he wished that he joined the club sooner.
As a youngster, Boyata was highly rated but never really managed to get his career on track.
He spent six-years with Premier League giants Manchester City between 2009-2015 but during that time, he only went on to make 13 League appearances for the Cityzens.
During his time with the Cityzens, the Belgium international was sent on two loan spells in order to gain more experience, with Bolton Wanderers and FC Twente respectively but both were unsuccessful.
He moved to Celtic in 2015 and his career has flourished ever since.
Since then, the 27-year-old has helped the Hoops to win three Scottish Premier League titles, two Scottish Cups and one Scottish League Cup.
His consistent performances earned him a place in the Belgium squad which finished third during the 2018 World Cup.
Boyata’s current contract with the Hoops is set to expire at the end of the season, even though he may not remain at Parkhead beyond this season, he wishes that he had joined the club earlier.
As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “I should have taken that step of joining Celtic even earlier.
“Under Roberto Mancini I got my first chances. I was 19 at the time. After that season I was able to go to Everton. I should have done that.
“City became bigger and bigger every year. That does not make it easy for a youth player to continue to grow.”
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