Daniel Arzani believes that his next move might be to Holland.
The winger made three substitute appearances for Australia at the 2018 World Cup Finals in Russia and quickly found himself on the move from Melbourne City.
Manchester City was the immediate destination but almost in tandem with his Etihad deal he joined Celtic on a two year loan move prompting hopes of another Patrick Roberts type impact.
Ten minutes into his debut away to Dundee he got the injury that every footballer dreads- cruciate ligament damage.
The long road to recovery took in visits to Barcelona and Manchester but after one more brief appearance for Celtic the 21-year-old is looking elsewhere for the next stage of his development.
Looking to the future, Australia website The World Game reports:
“Holland comes up because it’s a selling league and they develop a lot of really good talent there,” Arzani said. “But they’re not the only league to have done that.”
He’s made just two senior appearances for the Bhoys saying: “It’s been a really tough last two seasons for me. Celtic’s been tough, there are a lot of good people there and it’s a good club, but the most important thing for me is game time and I wasn’t getting that.
“I was getting frustrated with injuries and things like that and the most important thing now is to look forward and go somewhere I think I’ll get game time.”
He has no qualms over the treatment his received from Bhoys boss Neil Lennon, with Celtic chasing a 10th successive league crown and blessed with abundant talent.
“It’s tough for Lenny – he came back for his second gig as Celtic manager with a lot of weight on his shoulders in going for 10 in a row,” Arzani said.
“I’ve been coming back from injury and he’s never seen me play before, so there’s no way I can blame him. He’s a really good guy and a really good coach. It was just unfortunate circumstances.”
Neil Lennon has spoken positively about retaining Arzani next season but as the age of 21 on the back of two seasons lost to injury he needs a run of 30 or so matches to pick up on the promise shown at Melbourne City.
Manchester City have an extensive network of players out on loan and are likely to have already identified the club best suited for the winger’s next move.