Daniel Arzani’s injury return still has no date in sight, with a lack of clarity provided over when he’ll be back.
We’ve still yet to see the winger since his season ended last October at Dens Park. As it stands, Arzani only has one Celtic appearance to his name, but was largely expected to make a return before the season began.
He was even rolled out to the media back in mid-June to talk about how much he was looking forward to coming back to action (Celtic TV). Arzani stated in that very presser that he was targeting a return for the second leg against Sarajevo. Fast forward over a week after that contest, and still there’s been no clarity over Arzani’s situation.
There were reports before the second leg against Sarajevo that Arzani was back in training (Scottish Sun). But even then, that doesn’t mean an awful lot when you consider that even Tom Rogic is back training, and he doesn’t sound anywhere near ready (Celtic TV). It’s not been confirmed whether Arzani is back in full training, or whether he’s carrying a lighter work-load just now.
It’s also now at the stage where Arzani is in real danger of losing out in the battle for left-mid. With Mikey Johnston and Lewis Morgan impressing every week, the challenge only gets greater for the Aussie to make an impression.
No clarity over Arzani’s injury return
This was a big deal for us when it got over the line last summer. Sealing Arzani on a two-year loan deal from Manchester City was seen by many as terrific business. Nobody could’ve foreseen the failure it’s been so far, however.
Most of that has been down to a lack of luck on Arzani’s part in fairness. But the Champions League qualifiers should’ve been a real opportunity for him to make an impact. That just hasn’t happened.
There’s not a lot Arzani can do, of course. He’ll be going about his rehab and doing all he can to get back as quickly as possible. But the expected date of last week for him to return wasn’t met. Still, we continue to wonder how long it’ll take for him to come back ahead of the new season.
At the end of the day, he’s been robbed of the start his left-wing rivals have had this summer. Even the likes of Jonny Hayes and Scott Sinclair can be considered ahead of Arzani until he proves himself. And when he does return to fitness, it’s going to be tough enough to get the opportunities he would’ve had in pre-season.
His ACL tear has been a lot worse than any of us could’ve imagined when it initially happened. It would be horrific if it genuinely robbed him of his chances of having any success in this loan spell.
But with the domestic campaign dawning on us next weekend, still there’s no update on when the Aussie will be back.
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