Daniel Arzani’s season was simply robbed from underneath him when he made his Celtic debut on Halloween.
The Aussie arrived last summer on a two-year loan from Manchester City. This came after a fine World Cup campaign with Australia last summer, where he featured three times after coming off the bench. His impact on the competition was minimal, but he arrived with a glowing reputation.
It told a lot about the talent he has that Man City signed him from Melbourne City. He was the youngest ever Aussie to have been called up to a World Cup squad, and there was much to be excited about.
Of course, taking the position of James Forrest was never going to be straightforward. Forrest, after all, would go on to scoop the individual Player of the Year awards in Scottish football.
Arzani would, however, still be given his opportunity. Just over two weeks since representing Australia in a 4-0 friendly win against Kuwait, Arzani made his Celtic bow.
The date was October 31st 2018. And it’ll forever be a horrific one for our new Aussie talent. The winger initially came on at Dens Park for fellow Australian teammate Tom Rogic. Celtic were 5-0 up with over half an hour to play. It was all set up for a showcase of Arzani’s ability.
Arzani’s luck cursed him this season
Instead, a nasty clash on the day saw Arzani stretchered off with what would later be revealed to be cruciate ligament damage (BBC). It came after he had shown flashes of clever foot-work and menacing directness.
He only had 20 minutes or so to impress before he needed carrying off. In the end, he wouldn’t make another appearance as the injury took his season.
In recent weeks, Arzani has been posting promising video clips on his Instagram page of his progress. His fitness appears to be building nicely ahead of what’s going to be a huge pre-season.
Come the Champions League qualifiers next month, hopefully Arzani will be able to take part. Neil Lennon hasn’t actually revealed when we can expect to see this young prospect shine again in green-and-white.
He’ll also have a huge battle on his hands next season too. As well as treble-Player of the year winning Forrest, Arzani now has Maryan Shved also vying for a place down the right too.
It’s set up to be a huge campaign for Arzani in particular. Here’s hoping he can start making up for lost time in the coming months.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
