Former Celtic winger Daniel Arzani has opened up on his injury struggles. The Australian prodigy joined Celtic in the summer of 2018 on a two year loan deal before an ACL injury on his debut sparked a torrid time with fitness.
Speaking to A-League’s All Access, Arzani said he didn’t feel like a footballer anymore due to the knee injury that has had a huge impact on his development.
“The toughest thing for me personally was not feeling like I was a footballer anymore.
“I was just in the gym and in the physio room so I didn’t see the pitch for like five months.
“I’m all the way on the other side of the world. I’m 19, I’ve moved here to paly football. It’s all I’ve done my whole life and I’m not getting a chance to do it all.
“You see your friends, they’re going out on the pitch every day. They’re playing, they’re playing well and you see everyone succeed and you’re not even getting a chance.
“I had a couple of unsuccessful loan moves and things weren’t going to plan. I just felt like I was beating my head against a brick wall because I was working so hard to make things happen but it just wasn’t falling into place.”
Despite being just 25, Arzani has been well travelled across his short career from England, Scotland and the Netherlands.
Arzani’s second half debut came on Halloween after weeks of speculation about whether the manager had actually wanted to sign him or not.
It would be a season ending injury for Arzani, which ruled him out for over 12 months. Arzani’s progress faltered with that injury at Dens and he has failed to recover from it, having to settle for youth team appearances and one Scottish Cup appearance.
Loan moves followed from City to Utrecht, AGF and Lommel followed before a permanent switch to MacArthur FC before a 2023 return to Melbourne but this time with Victory.
Hopefully Arzani can continue to improve and live up to his early potential.
