Australian wonderkid Daniel Arzani will spend two years in the Scottish Premiership with Celtic after joining Premier League champions Manchester City.
One of the most exciting young attackers in world football is due to spend the next two seasons on loan at Celtic – and Brendan Rodgers owes a Rangers legend some thanks for his role in Daniel Arzani’s rapid rise to fame.
The youngest player at the 2018 World Cup has enjoyed a whirlwind year.
Since breaking into the Melbourne City team last season, Arzani has won the A-League’s Young Player of the Year award, featured three times for Australia in Russia, sealed a permanent switch to Manchester City and then a loan move north of the border to the Scottish Premiership champions.
And the role of Tony Vidmar, a former Rangers hero who won the league title twice at Ibrox between 1997 and 2002, should not be understated.
The former Australia international was key to Arzani’s development. It was Vidmar who taught the then 15-year-old at the prestigious AIS Centre of Excellence, teaching Arzani the skill and freedom of expression that paved the way for his rise to prominence.
“We don’t have anything like him as a player. One stat he had this year was the amount of take-ons he had when he went past players was double the next nearest player,” said Vidmar, who also coached Arzani at Melbourne Victory, in quotes reported by Inside Sport.
“He just has this belief and confidence that every time he gets the ball he can get past a player — and he’s proved that he can do it.”
Arzani should go from strength to strength under Rodgers’ watchful eye at Celtic. And should the 19-year-old develop as his potential demands, one former Rangers favourite will have a few admirers at Parkhead too.
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