Daniel Arzani’s Celtic career has been full of misfortune. On his debut for the club in October 2018, he suffered a devastating ACL injury – a problem that had kept him out until earlier this month.
The Australian signed on an initial two-year loan from Manchester City but hasn’t been able to demonstrate his true capabilities to Neil Lennon.
He’s appeared on the bench twice in 2019/20, featuring in the Scottish Cup but his time in Scotland has been one full of a lack of football.
The youngster would have arrived at Celtic Park in order to continue his development but instead, his career has gone in the opposite direction.
That ACL injury was a huge setback, but even if he has done enough in training to convince Celtic to sign him again, they shouldn’t do.
It was reported in November that Lennon’s side might be willing to loan him for another season, however, recent claims have been suggesting he’ll go elsewhere.
Former striker Scott McDonald commented: “We’re lucky that he’s still very young but with Celtic chasing silverware again, I think he’ll probably be looking elsewhere (for game time).
“After this season, he’ll need to sit down with his advisors and the City Football Group and decide what’s the best move for Daniel to play senior football and achieve what we all think he’s capable of.”
It certainly feels like this would be best for all parties. After all, the 21-year-old has a ready-made replacement just waiting to take his role in the squad.
That happens to be a certain Karamoko Dembele. The diminutive teenager burst onto the scene last season but has been rarely seen in the matchday squad since, appearing on two occasions this campaign.
Though, this is clearly a player blessed with a huge amount of potential given he made his senior debut at the age of 16. Not only that, but the youngster was also playing U20 football at the age of 13.
Capable of playing on either wing, Dembele was busy making headlines again this week as he starred for the reserve side, earning positive reviews from supporters who wanted to see him start for Lennon’s first-team.
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Coincidentally, the duo both played in Celtic’s academy win over Hibernian. Arzani claimed an assist from a deal ball situation before Dembele rifled the ball into the back of the net via the crossbar towards the end of the first half.
The 17-year-old then netted a second, dancing through the defence before slotting home in quite magical fashion. It was a performance that outshone Arzani and proved why he has every reason to be ahead of him in the pecking order.
Rather than bringing the Australian back next term, Celtic would be better off handing more regular minutes to Dembele.
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