Daniel Arzani has confirmed he will leave Celtic when his loan deal expires next month, as the Manchester City loanee opened up on his disastrous two-year spell in Scotland.
Arzani joined City after appearing for Australia at the 2018 World Cup, before immediately joining Celtic on a two year loan deal. However, the midfielder only played 28 minutes of football for the Scottish Champions across two appearances after he suffered a cruciate ligament injury on his debut.
Now, the 21-year-old says he will leave Celtic Park this season, with another loan move expected to come for him to prove himself.
Discussing the possibilities of his next move, Arzani told The World Game: “Holland comes up because it's a selling league and they develop a lot of really good talent there. But they're not the only league to have done that.
“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.
“It's tough for Lenny [Neil Lennon] - 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. 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.”
Arzani is keen to look forward, confirming he is back to full fitness after his injury problems and saying his next club will have to be the right one for him to kick on in his career.
“I think I'm in some of the best shape of my career so far,” he continued. “Andrew Clark has been impressed with the work we've been doing and said he'd never seen me in such good shape, so I'm buzzing.
“There's no point in looking into the past and the negative things that have happened. It's about looking forward, taking things in your stride and trying to make the best out of an unfortunate situation with injuries.
“This happens to everyone - I'm not the first player and I won't be the last.
“I don't know if I'll be going back to Celtic to finish the season - we'll just have to wait and see what the different leagues announce and go from there.
“It's a crazy time right now. I may have to get on a plane and go back to Glasgow next week. Or I might be going back in a month's time and my contract will have run out by then.
“The (ultimate) aim is to stay in Europe and give it a proper shot. I don't think I gave myself a fair chance this time around because I wasn't fit the whole time.”
“I feel like I've emotionally matured so much through this process and in some ways it could be good for me later down the track,” he added.
“I just want to bounce back now and get back to playing. To do my ACL in my first game was a tough one - and I've literally been out since then, until maybe a couple of months ago.
“It is what it is, but hopefully it will never happen again, touch wood.”