Belgian central defender Deryck Boyata has announced his retirement from professional football. The 34-year-old has spent the last three seasons in Belgium with Club Brugge but was unable to become a regular at the side, being released from his contract earlier this year. Boyata had been training with a handful of clubs with an eye for a contract, but has instead decided to retire and take up a coaching role within the Belgian youth setup, as reported by HLN.
Boyata brings to an end a 15 year career that saw him play for a number of sides. Starting out with Manchester City, the defender played 25 games between 2009 and 2015, scoring once. He had spells during that period on loan at Bolton Wanderers and FC Twente. In 2015 he left Manchester to join Scottish giants Celtic. In four years in Glasgow he played 135 games, scoring 15 goals and winning three Scottish Cups, four Premierships and three League Cups. In 2019 Boyata moved to Germany to join Hertha Berlin. Boyata played 76 games for the then Bundesliga club, scoring six goals and being the clubs captain for a period of time.
Boyata was on big wages at Club Brugge, and when his performances did not match the money he was being paid, he was left out of the squad for a whole season. Despite Clubโs efforts to find Boyata a new home, they were unable to come up with a solution that suited the player and the potential new club.
Now, Boyata will be in charge of guiding the next โgoldenโ generation of Belgian talent through the countries youth system.
GBeNeFNย |ย Ben Jackson
