Aaron Mooy Celtic fitness update ahead of Norwich City

By John McGinley

July 22, 2022

Aaron Mooy has spoken in the media about his fitness status as he embarks on a new career at Celtic.

It’s well known by now that Mooy wasn’t playing a lot of football in China earlier this year, in part because of the Covid-19 situation and his desire to travel for Australia’s international matches.

He’s now given insight on his journey to stay match ready for his country and what his current status is heading into his first few weeks at Celtic.

As quoted by The Scottish Sun, he said: “Earlier in the summer the national team knew I was sort of in limbo after leaving China, so they had one of their fitness coaches come out and train me in Scotland.

“There’s a local park near my house. There were people walking their dogs during the day and there I was legging it. A few young kids kicking the ball around recognised me but it wasn’t too bad. I was mainly just doing running and just general fitness stuff.

“I was really motivated because they were important games coming up. I didn’t really need that much motivation because I was hungry to be there. Then we went to Dubai and it was more professional. A bunch of the team, which was good.

“It was obviously an amazing time for me and for Australia to qualify for the World Cup. I hadn’t actually touched the ball since then. I only just started training two days ago. I did some fitness testing the other day, and then on Thursday it was just some football with the reserve team. It was nice to touch the ball again, but you need time to get up to speed and try to be in the best shape possible.”

Mooy took part in his first real Celtic training session this morning but it seems unlikely he will be involved at home to Norwich City tomorrow.

When Celtic’s international players returned from holiday earlier this month, Ange Postecoglou decided not to include them in a match setting until they’d had a good few days of training under their belt.

It’d be a surprise to see him alter that stance for Mooy, meaning the Aberdeen league opener looks like a better candidate for him to get minutes off the bench.

There will be plenty of opportunities for him to play throughout August too, before the intensity of Celtic’s season really ramps up in September.

In other news, Moritz Jenz was ‘very close’ to Celtic move last summer; now wants long-term stay.