Former Celtic player Brendan Rodgers challenged to be 'the next Harry Kewell' wanted for Premiership transfer
He has been a standout down under after a difficult spell at Celtic.
A former Celtic player signed in Brendan Rodgers’ first stint at the club is wanted by another Premiership side.
The Hoops are looking to finetune their team that won a Premiership and Premier Sports Cup double last campaign, but rivals are doing the same. Hearts are in a new era backed by Jamestown Analytics and proposed investment worth almost £10m from Brighton owner Tony Bloom. It means their scouting is going near and far in search of top talent.
It’s reported by the Edinburgh Evening News that Daniel Arzani is one man on their radar. He has impressed with Melbourne Victory this season in the A League as his career gets back on track after injury issues, having shone brightly for Melbourne City as a youngster. Arzani also impressed with Australia’s national team and earned a move to Manchester City. The report states “Hearts are one of several clubs interested and put their proposal forward offering the player a chance to return to Europe.”
What Brendan Rodgers said of former Celtic player
He was given his Celtic debut by Rodgers during his first stint at the club, having signed a two year loan deal, tearing his ACL in that clash against Dundee. A multitude of loans proved unsuccessful before joining MacArthur FC in Australia to regroup, now attracting Hearts interest after form down under. Speaking during his time at Celtic, Rodgers challenged him to put in the work to become like Aussie great and ex Hoops coach Harry Kewell.
The boss said before his debut: “It will be our job to manage the expectation, every young player in Australia hopes they can be the next Harry Kewell. Harry was a special talent but Daniel is a young boy who has talent, over the coming years we will see if he has the commitment to go with the quality he has.
“Daniel hasn’t played 90 minutes of football, here or in Australia. This is a young player who burst onto the scene back home and is regarded as a talent. But he is very new into his life as a professional and has just been with us for three weeks. It’s the adaptation to a new country, new club, new football. It’s just time, he’s a talented young player and the idea with a talented young player is to go from a talent to a professional.”
What former Celtic player said of club
Speaking upon signing for the Hoops, Arzani said: “Celtic is a massive club with a great history and one of the best followings in the world, so I’m looking forward to getting started. The idea was put to me to come to Celtic and work with Brendan Rodgers, and it was something I was very interested in doing, and when it became a reality, I was very excited.
“I’ve had a couple of chats with the manager, more about when I’m coming and when I’ll get started, but I’ll have more chats with him after I settle into the club. But, for me, it’s about coming here, doing the best that I can and helping the club as much as possible. I gave Tom Rogic a call and had a chat with him about the club and everything was positive.
“Basically he said to me that if it wasn’t so good, he wouldn’t have signed an extension to stay at Celtic Park. Apparently, playing in front of the Celtic fans is absolutely amazing and I’m really excited about that. All of Celtic’s home games look absolutely amazing. The scenes at the game are unbelievable, and I love it when the crowd gets behind me. I’m an attacking player. I love to take players on and hopefully I can bring some of that to the team.”