Melbourne City chief breaks silence as Marco Tilio prepares to depart Celtic for a third time

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Marco Tilio could prove to be the answer to a quiz question on forgotten Celtic players in the future.

Tilio was the A-League’s most expensive sale of all time when he left to join Celtic but has found his time in Glasgow utterly miserable.

The wide man has hardly featured for the Bhoys and has returned to Melbourne City twice on loans.

Melbourne hoped to bring him back on loan again but Tilio has opted to join Rapid Vienna on loan with an option to buy.

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Melbourne City director of football sends message to Marco Tilio

In his final season at Melbourne, Tilio helped to win the A-League and even earned himself a recall to the Australian national team for their June friendlies.

Although their hopes of bringing him back down under again haven’t come true, the club’s director of football penned a classy message to the winger ahead of his move to SK Rapid.

Michael Petrillo told Melbourne City’s club website: “Marco has been a tremendous player for our Club – not just for what he’s produced on the pitch, but also for the way he’s conducted himself as a professional.

“He’s played a major role across two successful stints with City and we’ve all enjoyed watching him develop into one of the country’s brightest attacking talents.

“While we were keen to extend his stay and continued discussions with Celtic, we fully support Marco’s ambition to once again challenge himself in Europe.

“We thank him for everything he’s contributed to Melbourne City and wish him every success in the next stage of his career.”

Celtic’s wide options are depleting

It’s the right decision to move Tilio on but there is a wider problem that Celtic need to address.

Luis Palma’s move to Lech Poznan means that the only wide options in the squad are Daizen Maeda, James Forrest, Hyunjun Yang and Jota – who is injured until 2026.

Any progress on a move for Michel-Ange Balikwisha seems to have cooled off too and while it’s important to get deadwood off the books, making sure there is sufficient depth in the team is also vital.