Celtic v Ferencvaros – Daniel Arzani reveals Celtic Park return emotion
Arzani joined Celtic on loan from Manchester City in 2018 but suffered a cruciate ligament injury on his debut against Dundee, restricting him to just two appearances during his two-year stay.
Now back at Celtic Park ahead of Thursday night’s Europa League clash, the Australian admits returning to his former club has been a surreal experience.
“I’m really excited to be back here. It’s an incredible atmosphere and a club with a lot of history,” Arzani said via TCW. “Personally, it was a difficult period for me being here. But I’m happy to be back and walking out into the stadium there felt surreal. It’s really exciting.
“I just saw the kit man down the stairs as well – he’s a legend, it’s nice to be back.”
Arzani has retained an interest in Celtic since leaving and revealed he still keeps in contact with former teammates.
“I’ve watched a lot of Celtic games since I’ve left,” Arzani continued. “I still have a few friends that play here and I had a lot of friends who played here for a long time as well, like the Australian fella Tom Rogic.
“For tomorrow night, it’s going to be a difficult game. Celtic are a good team but in Europe we tend to do very well, we’re a very strong team and we play at a very high intensity.
“It’s going to be a good exhibition game and it’s going to be about who wants it more.”
Arzani has started the season brightly for Ferencvaros, registering two assists in his opening three league appearances, but insists he does not view his Celtic Park return as an opportunity to prove a point.
“No, not particularly to be honest,” he said. “I was 19 years old, I had a cruciate ligament injury on my debut.
“For me it’s just a little bit nostalgic. I’m honestly just excited to get out there and play.
“I know the atmosphere is going to be incredible. We’re not just here for the fun of it. I think we can give it a really good shot. I’m just really excited.
“It was a period where I could work on my mental resilience. It was obviously a really tough period for me, I was young, it was my first stint out of Australia, I had a big injury.
“For me, it was where I learned about what kind of coping mechanisms I use to get through tough times. It was an important period in my career.”
Ferencvaros boss Balazs Borbely also has previous experience of Celtic Park, having played for Artmedia Bratislava when they famously eliminated the Hoops 5-4 on aggregate in Champions League qualifying in 2005.
“I have very positive memories,” Borbely said. “We qualified to the next round. After the 5-0 win in Bratislava, we lost here. We were losing 4-0 and there were about ten minutes left. But we got through. My memories are only positive.”
Borbely believes Ferencvaros can cause Celtic problems again on Thursday, although he is wary of the attacking quality at Martin O’Neill’s disposal.
“We cannot wait for tomorrow’s game,” he added. “We could talk for a very long time about the strengths of Celtic. They have really good, quality offensive players. They are really good in possession.
