Daniel Arzani, the 19-year-old Australian winger, is currently on a two-year loan at Celtic from Manchester City after the Premier League holders had signed him from Melbourne City FC. The winger had an impressive stint in the World Cup for his country, and as a result, there was excitement among the Celtic quarters about his arrival. However, in the past three months, it has turned out to be a dampener as Arzani has even failed to make the matchday squad and trained with Celtic’s reserve side.
That has changed right now as the latest reports suggest that Arzani has been spotted training with the Hoops’ first team. Even though he cannot be part of the Europa League tie, his involvement with the first team shows that he has been doing things right in the past month or so. Rodgers did receive some flak for his decision of not involving the talented winger, especially after they had an indifferent start to the season.
Rodgers explained about his non-involvement with the first team and said,”He came out of nowhere and went to the World Cup, became the youngest player there. This is a boy who had never played 90 minutes of senior football, but people are expecting him to come in and be like Eden Hazard or Harry Kewell. Sorry to burst the bubble, but he needs a bit of time to build up his fitness and confidence.”
The situation had been such that reports were emerging that Arzani would look for an exit from the club if he didn’t make an appearance until December through a release clause in his contract. However, Rodgers himself squashed those rumours and assured that the little Australian would stay on at Celtic Park.
The Hoops are set to enter a crucial phase of the season and maybe Rodgers realises that he would need depth in their squad and someone who can turn things around coming from the bench. With Arzani’s return to first-team training, we expect him to get an appearance somewhere in the future, and everyone would be excited to see this Australian bag of talent.
The young winger usually plays down the left flank, and his dribbling skills and pace are his prime assets. He can go past his man with ease, a skill which he has honed by playing years of futsal and street football in his younger days. However, he is not yet a finished product, but with time he could turn out to be a game changer for Rodgers.
People might have criticised the manager for not involving the summer signing much, but the fact that he is on a two-season loan suggests that it is a longer project and maybe by the second half of the season we can see him making cameo appearances for the Bhoys.
