Celtic manager Ronny Deila has praised the qualities of Dedryck Boyata.

The Belgian defender joined the Hoops from Manchester City earlier this month and Deila is excited to have such a player at his disposal.

One-time Belgium international Boyata, 24, enjoyed loan spells with Bolton and FC Twente during his time at City which Deila feels will hold him in good stead for both the Scottish Premiership and European football this season and beyond.

"He is a great talent who has a very high ability," said Deila.

"He needs matches now to get to match fitness and our task is to get his potential out and I think that if we can do that we have a top international in our squad.

"But with Dedryck, like everyone else, they need time to adapt and settle in and get used to the way we want to play football. "He has a lot of experience at being at a big club. He hasn't played so many games but he knows what it's about being at a big club and he has trained with, and seen, the best players for so many years. So he is very hungry to play games and get out his own potential and we are going to help him do that."

Deila added: "We have a lot of options at Celtic. We went for Boyata at Manchester City and we are very happy with that. We only needed one central defender and we got our first choice."