Scott McDonald rekons Daniel Arzani will leave Celtic in the summer

By David Walton

February 24, 2020

Former Celtic striker Scott McDonald believes that Australian winger Daniel Arzani will leave Parkhead at the end of the season.

Arzani signed in the summer of 2018 in a two-year loan agreement from Manchester City. However, after making his debut on Halloween later that year, a horror ACL tear kept him out of action until January, but even then he’s only had one further appearance (Transfermarkt).

The Australian has been playing with the reserves in recent times, and featured in today’s match against Hibernian where he played 80 minutes at Lennoxtown.

Arzani doing his press duties (Robert Cianflone/Getty Images)

Yet first-team action still seems quite a bit away for the youngster. Speaking to Australian outlet the World Game, McDonald believes Arzani will be off in the summer in a search for first-team football.

“I was at the game against Dundee where he got injured (20 minutes into his debut) and it looked pretty innocuous. It’s been a real shame for him but slowly but surely he’s got his fitness back and one my best mates is Celtic reserves assistant coach Stephen McManus, who tells me how well Daniel has been doing, how strong he’s looking and what a good prospect he is.

“We’re lucky that he’s still very young but with Celtic chasing silverware again, I think he’ll probably be looking elsewhere (for game time).

“It’s tough for Daniel to even get into an 18-man squad for a Saturday. I feel his frustration and I know he’s working really hard and is champing at the bit.”

Celtic reportedly still interested in Arzani

The World Game reported back in November that Celtic were still keen on securing Arzani in another loan deal. However, his lack of game-time surely puts that into question.

McDonald states that Arzani struggles to get into an 18-man matchday squad. He’s not wrong either. Arzani has only managed three of those this season. His last outing was a five-minute cameo against Partick Thistle (Transfermarkt).

Looking at his position, it’s a real scrap for opportunities too. With Celtic often playing in a 3-5-2 system, Greg Taylor seems to have a stranglehold on left-wing-back.

Celtic attacker Daniel Arzani (Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Behind Taylor we still have the likes of Mohamed Elyounoussi and Mikey Johnston when he comes back from injury. Arzani’s minutes look far too weak to extend his loan deal in Scotland.

Whether Neil Lennon likes him or not remains to be seen. But you can’t deny he’s been fit for a while now and is still being frozen out. No matter how you look at it, that doesn’t read too well for him.

Where does Daniel Arzani stand at Celtic in your opinion? Should we bring him back to Parkhead next year? Let us know your thoughts in our new discussion forum.