Dedryck Boyata has insisted that he is fully focused at Celtic after putting a difficult summer behind him.

The Belgian defender was targeted by Fulham in the summer transfer window, with Celtic knocked back a £9m bid from the London club for Boyata.

That led to an unsavoury rift between the player and the club, with Boyata refusing to make himself available for the UEFA Champions League qualifiers as he tried to engineer a way out of the club.

Talks took place between Boyata and Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers to address the issues with the player a mainstay of the Parkhead defence since going back into the team.

The player is in the final year of his contract at the club and it appears highly unlikely that he will stay beyond that but for now he has maintained that his sole focus is getting results with Celtic.

“Right now I’m in a position where I’m not supposed to say anything about what happened in the past,” said Boyata.

“But I am fully committed with the team and I’m trying to give as much as I can whenever I’m on the pitch.

“I’m a Celtic player and I’m very happy to be a Celtic player. Whatever happens next, happens next.”

In Boyata’s first appearance since returning to Celtic’s starting XI following his no show for the Champions League qualifiers, there was a Green Brigade banner claiming that Boyata was not ‘fit’ to wear the jersey.

He scored the winner in that game and hasn’t looked back in terms of his selection. The only blot to his copybook was the sending off against St Johnstone in the League Cup.

“What happened in the past is in the past and I’m looking forward to getting back to where we were the last three seasons,” said the defender.

“I’m working hard for it and hopefully we’ll get back where we’re supposed to be.”

Meanwhile, former World Cup star Eric van Meir believes that Boyata can be the successor to Vincent Kompany at the heart of the Belgian defence.

Boyata impressed at the World Cup in Russia after playing the opening three group games and is expected to start for Belgium in a friendly against the Netherlands tomorrow.

Said van Meir: “Dedryck Boyata can become the most important man in the defence of the Red Devils in the future.

“He has already proved that at the World Cup when he successfully dealt with the injuries of Vincent Kompany and Thomas Vermaelen and played really well.”