Latest reports suggest that Celtic are close to landing Australian winger Daniel Arzani. The winger cum attacking midfielder gave a good account of himself in the World Cup for Australia as the 19-year-old made some impressive displays coming off the bench. The player currently plies his trade for Australian outfit Melbourne City FC. However, he is set to move to their parent organisation, that is, Manchester City in the current transfer period. The Citizens are then looking to send him on an at least two-season long loan at Celtic.
The Hoops have a good working relationship with the English giants as they acquired Patrick Roberts on loan earlier who played a crucial part in Brendan Rodgers’ side over the last two seasons. The Iranian born winger was the youngest player for Australia at the World Cup and he surely has a bright future ahead of him.
Celtic will definitely have a top talent at their disposal as his cameos in the World Cup garnered a good amount of interest for the player. He had represented Australia earlier at the u-18 and u-20 levels but wasn’t seen in that high regard. However, in the A-League last season, he showcased his real talent which pushed the Socceroos team to give him a go at the World Cup.
Player Profile:
Full name – Daniel Arzani
Date of birth – 4/1/1999 (age 19)
Born In – Khorramabad, Iran
Height – 1.71m (5ft 7in)
Position – Winger/ Attacking Midfielder
Current Club: Melbourne City FC (24 apps/2 goals)
National team: Australia (5 caps/ 1 goal)
Brief History:
He was born in Iran and moved to Sydney when he was 7. Because of his descent, there was a chance of him representing the Iranian national team. However, he went on to represent Australia. In high school, he had said that he wanted to be either a neurosurgeon or a footballer. The Socceroos national team will be glad that he went with the latter option. He started his career with Sydney in the National Premier League. However, he wasn’t the best in those days and he ended up usually playing for their reserve side. Melbourne City FC picked him up in 2016 and later sent him on loan to Victoria in the National Premier League.
Player Strengths:
The 19-year-old has a certain flair to his game as he grew up playing a lot of street football and futsal. Whenever he is on the ball, he looks to drive forward and is not shy of taking on defenders. He has left quite a few defenders in the A-league on their backside with his sublime piece of trickery. To put in simpler terms he will have a five-star skill rating in FIFA games.
There is a certain cockiness to his game as well and that certainly isn’t a bad thing as long as he doesn’t take it to the ‘Neymar level’. He is also able to find his team-mates in right positions and his link-up play is also decent given his age.
Player Weaknesses:
The player is physically a bit underdeveloped and can be taken out by big brawny defenders. To succeed in the Scottish and English league, he will need to add more strength so that he can shield the ball better. Another area in which he can improve upon is by taking more shots when he gets into good positions. He often tries to do a bit too much or tries to cut back to his team-mates. That is one of the reasons why the 19-year-old managed just 2 goals in the A-League. He is still young so there is an immaturity to his game. Hopefully, with more experience, he will be able to take his game to the next level.
Read More: Celtic, Their Transfer Dilemma And What Rodgers Need To Do To Keep Their Dominance Intact!
A move to Celtic will definitely be a huge learning curve for him. If he manages to impress at Celtic Park, he can go on to play even for Manchester City. However, he still needs to go a long way before he can think of making a place for himself in one of the best English teams.
