Daniel Arzani made a mistake in agreeing a loan move from Manchester City to Celtic, says Mark Schwarzer, while Tom Rogic is considered to need a transfer away from Parkhead.
One highly-rated Australian talent linked up with the Hoops on a two-year agreement in 2018, with City eager to get regular game time into promising midfielder Arzani.
He was to suffer a serious knee injury early on in Glasgow, preventing him from making the desired impact, but Schwarzer is not convinced that Scotland was ever the right destination.
The legendary former Socceroos goalkeeper told the Two Sharp Reds Podcast: “It took him (Arzani) a while to even get that opportunity to start in a Celtic side and when he signed for them, I said straight away, 'I think it’s the wrong move for him'.
“I don’t think Celtic’s style of play suits him; I don’t think it’s the right environment for him to go into to develop as a player.
“And what do I mean by that? He needs game time. He needs to play in a first-team. He needs to play in a team that plays a style of football that suits him best.
“He’s a very gifted technical player, a player that loves to get the ball at his feet and run at the opposition, but as a ball-playing player, he needs other intelligent players around him.
“So, I would have thought his best move would have been a place either like Germany, (or) in Holland. They play a more technical-based game of football and they also give a lot of young players opportunities. So, I always said, I think the Celtic move is the wrong move for him.
“For Daniel Arzani, I think he was ill-advised. Yes, he has been out injured so forget that, but (the) beginning part I think he struggled.
“He got injured in his very first game. But before that, it took him ages to get in there because apparently, he wasn’t up to speed.
“And I kind of get that coming from Australia, not playing 90 minutes of football very often, he did need bringing up to speed and it was going to take him a bit of time. But Celtic are not the type of team that was going to suit Daniel Arzani in my opinion.”
Getty
Schwarzer feels that Arzani’s compatriot Rogic is also in the wrong place for his ongoing development, with the 27-year-old playmaker urged to seek out a switch to a more competitive league.
“From a tactical point of view, from a technical point of view, I don’t think he is tested enough because of the opposition they play enough every week,” said Schwarzer.
“If he goes to a more competitive league, I think he would also do well in the Bundesliga, again I think that is a perfect league for someone like Tom Rogic.
“He wouldn’t be at a Bayern Munich that would be winning the league, or a Dortmund or RB Leipzig necessarily, or at the top and expecting to win every game, he’ll be a mid-table team so you are coming up against far better opposition.
“The time when Rogic gets tested the most, as with other Celtic players, is when they play in Europe and that is then a do-or-die situation because you’ve got a limited amount of games to perform and get up to speed.
“It’s like anything, if you go to another league, step up, I’m not saying the teams he is going to go to are going to be better than Celtic, it is just going to be in a league that is more competitive.”
Rogic, who has 47 caps for Australia to his name, has been with Celtic since 2013 and is fast closing in on 200 appearances for the club.