Celtic have this morning announced the retirement of Aaron Mooy.
Shortly before 7am on Friday, the club released a statement confirming that the Australian midfielder had called time on his career.
It read: “Celtic midfielder and Australian internationalist Aaron Mooy today announced his intention to retire from both international and club football with immediate effect.”
Mooy is 32 and was contracted at Celtic until next summer, but will now not be part of Brendan Rodgers‘ plans for the new campaign.
He is the second high-profile Aussie to leave the club this summer after Ange Postecoglou, while speculation is also rife over Jota moving to Saudi Arabia.
The Celtic statement also features some words from new Hoops boss Rodgers.
He says: “Clearly we are disappointed that Aaron will be retiring, however, it is something we absolutely respect.
“He has done so much in the game for a number of clubs and for his country and he deserves to make this decision on his own terms.
“I am delighted for Aaron that he has gone out on a real high after making such a telling contribution to Celtic last season and that, together with all his other achievements, should be a real source of pride to him.
“Club football and the international game will miss him dearly, but on behalf of everyone at Celtic I send Aaron and his family our heartfelt best wishes for the future.”
So that’s that then. We won’t be seeing the bald genius play again for our club.
As is often the case, time will be the real test as to how Mooy is remembered at Celtic Park. My hunch is that he will be viewed as a bit of a cult in years to come.
He turned out to be a terrific one-season signing with his form at the start of 2023 really helping us forward to a treble.
He’ll be a miss next season, there’s no mistaking that. We wish him all of the best for the future.
In other news, what we can expect to see from Celtic’s 2023/24 fixtures
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