NEW Celtic defender Dedryck Boyata last night revealed moving to the Scottish champions was the easiest decision of his life and that he turned down several European clubs.

The 24-year-old completed his four-year deal and £1.5m move from Manchester City yesterday and immediately set his sights on being a big hit at Celtic Park.

The centre-half has been a long-time target of Ronny Deila and the Belgian international admitted that once Celtic showed an interest, there was little chance of him taking up any other offer.

Boyata said: "For me, it was all about the opportunity to play for a big team. I have been in Britain for seven or eight years now and know how big Celtic is.

"From the first minute I heard I would have a chance of moving here I spoke to my agent and everybody was happy with that. I know some players who played here as well.

"I spoke and asked questions and heard really good things. I didn't really have to think too much.

"I saw the manager twice in Manchester. Once after training and then another time he came to see me. That was good as they came to see me - from that moment I had it in my head about coming to play for Celtic.

"The manager told me the plan for me and because of what he's done with Jason Deneyar, it was not a hard decision.

"I spoke to a few club although most of the managers spoke to my agent. I could have stayed in England or gone to France or Spain."

Boyata did do his research before agreeing a deal with Celtic, which went through after a rigorous medical on Monday, and old team-mates from Manchester City were happy to give a glowing review of his new home.

The Belgian revealed: "I spoke most of the time to John Guidetti. He told me good things about the club.

"He told me about how good the club was and the team spirit, about the fans, especially the fans, the city, the manager, so quite a lot.

"I know Jason from when he came through the reserves so from that time and I was the one helping him a lot.

"From the moment he moved here I was looking at him all the time and really happy to see he had a really good season here.

"When you see you have this opportunity to play games - especially because I need games - it was a really good opportunity to move on."

The lure of the Champions League is just about Celtic's biggest selling point to any young player and Boyata is no different.

He got close to club football's premier club competition with City, but close wasn't enough.

Asked about the European nights at Celtic Park, Boyata said: "That's maybe the big thing for me. I've seen Celtic in the Champions League before. I see the club being able to be in it again.

"I've never had the chance to play in the Champions League but I've been on the bench for City five or six times. This was very frustrating for me because as a young boy you dream about playing in that tournament."

"You see yourself next to the line but you can't get over it. If we can qualify then that would be a really good thing and I think it is possible."