Former Chelsea and Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer’s comments on Celtic and Daniel Arzani don’t really stand up well.
The Aussie great has questioned whether a move to Parkhead was the right thing for Arzani (Goal). The winger was injured back on Halloween 2018 at Dens Park. After tearing his ACL, the youngster has failed to make a single appearance since that debut night.
The whole deal has been a bit of a disaster from a Celtic perspective. Getting a highly-rated young prospect in for two years looked a good move. But this is one loan deal from Man City that just hasn’t worked out due to the severity of his injury.
Schwarzer, however, when specifically touching on Celtic, stated to Goal that he wasn’t sure the move was the right one for Arzani.
Of course, the obvious back-up to this would be the fact that it wasn’t the right move because of the injury he picked up. However, Schwarzer is clearly talking from a footballing perspective as opposed to the circumstance of his injury.
And that’s were Schwarzer is just plain wrong to question Arzani’s move.
Patrick Roberts and Tom Rogic lead the way against the argument
Celtic’s last loan signing from Manchester City, Patrick Roberts, was a star in Glasgow. He added an extra layer of quality and creativity, and it effectively earned him a move to La Liga before a return to the Premier League with Norwich City. All of that came about from the exposure Celtic provided him. Before that, he was just a number in the City academy – something Arzani will want to avoid.
From an Australian perspective, however, just have a look at Tom Rogic. He’s been at Parkhead for nearly seven years, and look at how much further his game has come on here. Celtic have given him a platform to develop and play European football. Australia have reaped the rewards of that given he’s a constant in their international team.
If Arzani is good enough, the move to Celtic will open doors for him. However, everything has capitulated due to his injury troubles. But if Arzani was fit and performing well for the Hoops, he would certainly be attracting further attention.
They don’t understand what Celtic can offer
The likes of Schwarzer perhaps just don’t understand the package Celtic can provide young players. Even though Arzani isn’t actually our man, it’s the exposure of playing with Celtic that can lead to further Premier League interest and bigger deals down the line.
Celtic have a long line of transfers involving their star players heading directly to the Premier League. If Arzani shined at Parkhead, City would’ve had plenty of further interest in him for next season.
Moving up north, at the time, was the best thing Arzani could’ve done. Unfortunately, there seems to be no end to his exclusion from the first-team. Whether we’ll ever see him in a Celtic jersey again can probably be up for debate.
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