Surgeon to the stars helps Arzani return to the fray
There are few footballers who wouldn’t want to keep the same company as Kevin de Bruyne, Vincent Kompany, Cesc Fabregas and Fernando Torres – to name but a few. Yet the fact that Daniel Arzani could rhyme off these names as fellow travellers merely reveals what a hard road he has endured since joining Celtic on loan from Manchester City last summer.
The 20-year-old winger, pictured, managed only 23 minutes of game time in Scotland last season, suffering an anterior cruciate ligament injury on his Celtic debut as a second-half substitute in the 5-0 victory away to Dundee on 31 October.
Arzani’s lengthy rehabilitation means it will be a further six weeks before it is likely he can compete for a place in Neil Lennon’s side, ruling him out of the tie against Bosnia and Herzegovina side Sarajevo with which Celtic will open their Champions League qualifying campaign in three weeks. The one comfort is that the Iran-born Australian can consider he received the best possible treatment in his bid to ensure the second season of his two-year loan period with the Scottish champions delivers more than the first.
City directed his initial treatment programme and, with Pep Guardiola at the helm, that meant him going under the knife of football injury specialist Dr Ramon Cugat, the surgeon trusted by Guardiola since he solved hamstring problems that threatened his playing career at Barcelona in the late 1990s.
Azarni, who moved from Melbourne City to Manchester City last season and was immediately farmed out to Celtic, was operated on in the Catalan capital and the procedure involved a patella graft. At least he could feel assured by the signed pictures adorning Cugat’s surgery.
“It gives you confidence when you see those names and pictures and all of the players who have got back playing again, he must be very good at what he does,” said Arzani of Cugat’s former patients De Bruyne, Kompany, Fabregas and Torres.
The Australian opted to a undergo his rehab at Celtic’s base in Lennoxtown, a measure of his commitment to his loan club.
“I decided to stay here because I knew I was going to be here next season and it would be good to familiarise myself. I had only been here about two months before the injury. I didn’t want to go away and come back not knowing anyone again.
“I had a couple of people come to me and say ‘what are you going to do next season?’ but for me it was never really in doubt. I was always going to come back. I felt like I was doing well before I got injured. I could see myself doing well here. I liked the gaffer [Brendan Rodgers]. I like the new gaffer [Neil Lennon]. So for me it was never really a tough decision.
“It was really disappointing to get injured so soon in to my debut so I’m really looking forward to this season. I’m close to being involved with the squad in the next couple of weeks. It was gut-wrenching at the time. I didn’t actually realise I’d done my ACL at the time. It wasn’t like it was a big impact or anything.
“It just shows how precarious football can be. One minute you are on a high after the World Cup, signing for Man City and then going to Celtic, then, boom, an ACL injury. It was a huge setback. I was clapping the fans as I was coming off. That was because I didn’t actually believe I had done my knee. I was buzzing. I was really happy. Iwas thinking ‘it’s ok, in another couple of days I’ll be all right’.
“[I wasn’t] but I had my head in the right space afterwards and I’m feeling good now. I few friends had done ACLS and I know it’s important to have your head in the right place and knuckle down, or you’ll really suffer the repercussions down the track.”
Now Azarni wants to reap the benefits of his gym work and his appetite was whetted by the on-pitch celebrations that followed the clinching of the treble treble with the Scottish Cup final victory over Hearts.
“It wasn’t a pretty game but we got through it,” he said of the 2-1 triumph dredged from a losing position. “We all went out on the field and had the cup. It was just a great feeling. I remember walking out onto the field after the game and just thinking that I want to be apart of it. I was a part of it but I wasn’t playing day-in, day-out. I just really want that feeling.”