According to the latest reports, Danie Arzani who is on loan from Manchester City at Celtic, could see his loan deal scrapped if he fails to make an appearance by December. It is believed that the Australian prodigy has a clause in his contract which would allow him to do that and that could see the player returning to England soon.
Brendan Rogers has kept the 19-year-old winger away from the first team as he believes that he is not yet ready to take on the challenges of the Scottish Premiership. Rodgers had earlier commented,”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.’’
It’s been two months now, and Arzani has failed to even make the match day squads. The winger impressed in his little cameos in Russia in the World Cup and his signing was met with a lot of optimism. The 19-year old plied his trade for Melbourne City FC and Manchester City decided to snap him permanently and then sent him on a two-year loan spell at Park Head.
Rodgers’ handling of the youngster has brought in a fair criticism for him as Celtic legend Willie Wallace blasted the manager for bringing in a player and not giving him enough opportunities. The youngster has so far spent time playing for the Celtic reserves and maybe the winger himself might be thinking he would have been better off playing for City reserves in the Premier League 2.
The Australian is a little bag of tricks when he is on the ball as he has grown up playing futsal and street football. He was a smash hit in the Australian league last season and made a surprise entry in the World Cup squad. Not to be deterred by big occasions, the winger showed enough sparks to convince a club of Manchester City’s calibre in making a permanent move for him. He is nowhere near the finished product yet, but he needs to be playing some minutes of competitive football to realise his actual potential.
If the above reports are accurate, then Arzani has now around six weeks to impress Rodgers and break into the first team. It’s true that a player coming from a league like Australia would take time to adjust in the more physical and fast-paced Scottish League, but there should be something more which is influencing Rodgers’ decision as not even making the matchday squad once since the two months doesn’t make sense. The Australian winger was even axed from the Europa League squad, and it isn’t exactly clear how long the manager would wait to give him a chance in the first team.
