I think Dedryck Boyata owes Celtic a debt.

I don’t think he should be running out the door to another club after the way that Brendan Rodgers stood by him at Celtic. There has been a bit of chat about £9m on the table for him from Fulham – hang on to him and you could get £29m.

£9m? Stick with Celtic where there is the possibility of Champions League football, of winning trophies and staying in that national side and his value will only go up.

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.

But now that it looks as though there is a little bit of interest in him, I think he owes Celtic a decent run at it.

If he does that then his value will go through the roof. The defender can continue to develop at Celtic and is given the platform to play on the biggest stage of all and if he keeps producing solid performances then there will still be interest there. He could be the next big money player who leaves the club to go south of the border.

But while we all know that Fulham have spent a bit of money this season and will look to sustain their top flight status, not for the world could you ever say that the London club are bigger than Celtic.

They are a good club. They have the money that all Premier League clubs have so they can pay the wages but when it comes to the actual football side of things, Celtic wins hands down every time.

I also think that as a player it does you so much good to have a manager that has faith in you. Brendan has clearly worked with Dedryck and re-energised him and I think if I was his agent my advice to him would be to get himself on a long-term deal at Celtic and focus on pushing to get to that next level again.

I don’t think that he will start against AEK Athens tomorrow night because it probably just comes around a little too soon for him. It might be that he finds himself on the bench for the game but the good thing is that Celtic are starting to come into their own in terms of getting a fully fit squad.

If they can get through this first leg against the Greeks with a strong result then by the time they head to Athens for the game next week then they are stronger again.

Tom Rogic looked back to his best at the weekend. The lad ran the show against Livingston and Oliver Ntcham is another who has become a really big player for Celtic. Brendan will have been relieved that the injury he seemed to pick up on Saturday hasn’t really come to anything.

I have to say that I think that Kristoffer Ajer has done particularly well in this qualification phase. For a young lad, he has been excellent and he played very well against Rosenborg which I am sure will have pleased him on a personal level.

I suspect he’ll start tomorrow night alongside Jozo Simunovic. The key thing is that Celtic need to keep it tight at the back and take their chances at the other end.