Dedryk Boyata has revealed he confronted former Celtic boss Brendan Rodgers after he made him 'the villain" following his transfer request.
The stand-off between player and club came to a head as Celtic crashed to a shock defeat to AEK Athens.
Rodgers alleged that Boyata "didn't want to help the team" after a successful World Cup 2018 campaign with Belgium sparked interest from across Europe.
The 30-year-old has revealed he held showdown talks with his boss following the comments which pushed him closer to the exit door.
After Rodgers claim Boyata, now with Hertha Berlin, was slammed by pundits and supporters, with the Green Brigade unveiling a scathing at Celtic's next fixture.
Speaking to his former Manchester City team-mate Nedum Onuoha on the Kickback with Nedum podcast, Boyata spoke about the situation for the first time.
He said: “Brendan Rodgers had an interview where he said “it’s difficult to win games when we have fit players at home, who don’t want to help the team.
“At that moment, I just felt, I spoke to every single player about my situation.
"The captain, the goalkeeper, these guys were affected by the situation. They wanted to go to the Champions League. They said 'we need to find the best situation for Dedryk!'.
“From that moment, I was finished. I came back the day after and went to speak to [Rodgers]. 'How can you do this to me? How can you put me in the situation? You know everything that was going on, you were aware of everything'. He protected himself, he protected the team, and I was the bad guy.
“From (then) on, it (was) finished.”
He added: “I cannot speak for them, but I really did not think they expected me to go to the World Cup, or for me to play.
"So I go to the World Cup, and I have one year left. So we ended up having a good World Cup, finished third. Come back to Celtic. I had very good relations with Brendan Rodgers.
“That was the year the transfer window was closing earlier than usual. So what happened is, I speak with the guys, I speak with the doctors, the coach, about the situation.
"Yes, I requested a transfer. I said “I have these teams behind me, I don’t know what’s going to happen for me in the future. I need to know what’s going on now.”
“For myself it was a little bit difficult. I have never been in a situation where I am the villain.”
