Bundesliga
Boyata: "Hertha fans can expect changes like at Man City"
Dedryck Boyata and Karim Rekik, both having played for Manchester City, are excited about the prospect of Lars Windhorst's investment taking root at Hertha Berlin with Jürgen Klinsmann at the helm.
Boyata came through the academy of the current English Premier League champions and was breaking into the first team when the club was bought by Abu Dhabi United Group in 2008. In summer 2019 he joined Hertha from Scottish champions Celtic at the same time as Windhorst began his investment.
"We spoke about it with Karim [Rekik], saying it feels similar to how it was at Manchester City," Boyata stated at the Old Lady's winter training camp in Florida.
"The changes at City took years, and there's a lot of new things involved in such a process," the Belgium international added.
"There are new players, new training facilities, perhaps a new coach, new staff and a new way of thinking and working. It was incredible how many teammates I saw come and go there, but when you see where the club is now, things were moving in the right direction."
When Boyata arrived at the Olympiastadion from Glasgow in the summer, Ante Covic had just succeeded Pal Dardai as head coach. However, he was replaced in late-November by former Bayern Munich, Germany and USA coach Klinsmann.
Similar happened in Manchester shortly after the takeover when Robert Mancini was hired in place of Mark Hughes.
They're decisions that may appear tough to take, especially for Berliners not used to kneejerk changes after four years under Dardai, yet Boyata believes the development at Hertha is a step in the right direction.
"If you're a Hertha fan and want the same as there was at Man City back then, you need to be ready for change," the 29-year-old claimed.
Windhorst has stated he wants to turn the Old Lady into a "big city club", while Klinsmann has added since taking over as interim coach that the capital deserves a "superclub" and it should be aiming for Europe.
Watch: Hertha beat Frankfurt 2-1 in a Florida Cup exhibition match
Under the 55-year-old, Hertha have only lost one of their five Bundesliga games, taking them from a struggling 15th up to 12th going into the winter break.
Boyata has been impressed with the new coach so far.
"He's more than a football coach. He looks at everything closely. Sometimes it scares you when your thoughts are quickly elsewhere, then you turn around and see the coach is watching you and you need to do something. He's all about team spirit and is very positive."
While the Berliners won a recent friendly against fellow Bundesliga rivals Eintracht Frankfurt in Florida as part of their winter training camp, they will need all of that spirit when they restart their domestic campaign at home to champions Bayern on Sunday 19 January.