OPINION
Many Celtic fans should not be convinced after young winger Daniel Arzani’s latest comments on his Hoops future.
The 20-year-old, who is entering the second season of a two-year loan spell from Manchester City, told the Fox Football Podcast that he is hoping to get more first-team action in the upcoming campaign following an injury-hit first term.
“I’ve set my eyes on next season being a big one for me,” the six-time Australia international said. “A lot of people of have been saying I have potential, but at the end of the day there’s still a lot unproven.
“Right now my main focus is just getting back from this ACL injury and feeling good. For me [Brendan Rodgers’ exit] doesn’t change anything.
“It was a challenge for me to play under Brendan Rodgers at the beginning – his mindset was to have his attackers defend a lot. It’s not an easy team to break into.”
These comments will surely not convince many Celtic fans that Arzani can indeed break into the first team this season. It all looked so promising for the 20-year-old at the start of his loan move.
He had his Premiership debut against Dundee United on October 31, and Halloween turned out to be a horror day for the player, with him leaving the field after 33 minutes after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament.
That kept him out for the rest of the season and, on the face of it, there is very little chance of Arzani making any kind of success from his two-year loan spell now.
The fact is, it is like he is starting afresh and the first year never happened for him, because he was in the side and then the opportunity was taken away from him.
So if he is to really stake a claim and get some significant amounts of game time next season, he will have to really impress Neil Lennon and hit the ground running immediately.
It is expected to be a busy summer for Celtic as they look to keep ahead of Rangers in the battle for domination of Scottish football, so new signings could hamper his chances of having a say.
What’s more, Odsonne Edouard had a fantastic season for the Bhoys and is now a player that will undoubtedly get the lion’s share of game time up front.
Competing with a player like that will be very difficult, and despite his best efforts, that serious knee injury last season looks like it will seriously hamper Arzani’s chances of making a real success of his Parkhead stay.