Melbourne Victory announced the signing of Daniel Arzani over the weekend on a two-year deal. The move back to familiar surroundings could be the switch he needs to relaunch his career, writes Nick D’Urbano.
They say home is where the heart is and Daniel Arzani’s move back to familiar surroundings in Melbourne might be the magic elixir to get the best out of one of Australia’s most gifted footballers.
Although home is technically Sydney for the 24-year-old attacker, the comfort of playing at a venue he described as a “special place” to him – AAMI Park – and under a new boss who has reinvigorated careers time and again might be the fresh start Arzani desperately needs.
Arzani became Melbourne Victory’s first off-season signing on Sunday, penning a two-year deal with the club only days after his release from Macarthur FC. He links up with Tony Popovic ahead of what shapes as a crucial campaign for both the club and himself.
NEW SIGNING: Arzani confident he can recapture his ‘best version’ as he makes return to ‘special place’ with Victory
After Popovic’s promising first season in charge – where they rose from bottom of the table to Australia Cup success and a Semi Final finish in 2022 – Victory fell back down the table almost immediately in a campaign they were touted to be among the sides at the pointy-end of the table.
A club of Victory’s stature understand that three bottom two finishes in the last four seasons is far from acceptable and even withstanding off-field distractions coupled with key injuries – it was a far from satisfactory campaign.
It was something no one really saw coming at the start of the season. Victory were a popular pick among pundits and fans alike to build off their promising 2021/22 campaign and push for title contention.
In the aftermath of Victory’s final round 1-0 loss to Brisbane Roar, Popovic sat in front of the cameras and made it clear the club must nail recruitment going into next season if they are to start surging back up their standings.
After tying down three youngsters to scholarship deals, Popovic’s first bit of business was taking a gamble on someone who is at a career crossroads. It’s a throw at the stumps which is best summarised as being high risk, high reward.
The risk is tied within Arzani’s lack of consistency, with both form and minutes, since leaving Melbourne City five years ago but the reward is rediscovering the player who was once heralded Australia’s great hope.
Arzani fits a need for Victory too, given their attacking struggles last year following the loss of Marco Rojas to Colo Colo. His high profile replacement, Nani, never caught fire and suffered a season-ending injury – while Chris Ikonomidis was unable to recapture his best form too.
Attacking reinforcements was certainly high on the agenda this off-season for Victory – particularly out wide – and Arzani fits the mould of the player profile they are looking in those areas.
It will be a curious watch to see who else touches down at the club and if they can compliment Arzani’s strengths – particularly those feeding him the ball in midfield – but his arrival heralds a solid start to Victory’s recruitment thus far.
“We’re incredibly pleased to welcome Daniel to Melbourne Victory and believe he has the assets to be a strong contributor to our success this season,” Popovic said.
“We’ve seen what he can produce. He’s a dynamic, young forward who has shown he can deliver and we believe the environment at Melbourne Victory will allow him to return to his best.”
Arzani arrives at the club after returning to the A-Leagues last season with the Bulls, following an injury and form riddled four-year European stint. He started the season brightly, helping Macarthur win the 2022 Australia Cup and claim a number of positive results in the league.
His form put him firmly in the mix for a fairy tale return to the Socceroos fold for the 2022 FIFA World Cup squad but ultimately fell short – behind the likes of Mathew Leckie, Garang Kuol, Awer Mabil and Marco Tilio (who replaced the injured Martin Boyle in the final 26).
Unfortunately, his season never really took off after the World Cup break. Inconsistency plagued the remainder of his one year in Campbelltown, before ultimately succumbing to an ankle injury – which ended his campaign prematurely.
His numbers last season, however, do make for good reading.
Only three players averaged more dribbles per game than Arzani – who averaged 4.7 according to Opta. He had 11 goal contributions in all competitions (four goals, seven assists), 51 successful take-ons and created 47 chances.
WESTERN SYDNEY AWAITS: Wanderers bolster midfield stocks with arrival of ex-Victory captain
GLORY RECRUIT SPEAKS: The ‘minimum expectation’ ahead of upcoming season
Now, it’s just a matter of finding somewhere the winger can truly flourish, where he and his coach Popovic believe it’s in Victory navy blue.
“I’m excited to be joining Melbourne Victory for the upcoming season and looking forward to getting stuck into pre-season with the team,” Arzani said in a Victory statement.
“I understand the expectation that comes from joining a club like Melbourne Victory and I want to prove myself to the best fans in the league, week-in, week-out.
“AAMI Park is a special place for me, and I believe that I can be the best version of myself at Melbourne Victory.”
Arzani made AAMI Park his personal playground when he burst onto the scene as a teenager at Victory’s arch-rivals Melbourne City.
After emerging from their academy, the then 19-year-old had tongues wagging. There was a fearlessness and swagger that Arzani played with that made him an immediate drawcard.
There were knocks on his fitness and it took time for his former coach Warren Joyce to unleash him in the starting XI despite his tremendous week-in, week-out performances in City blue – but the spotlight was always on him once he stepped over that white line.
Arzani was the alpha to City’s omega at that time, who gained a reputation for slow, pragmatic football – which was far from the swashbuckling brand under Joyce’s predecessor John Van’t Schip.
In all, he was a breath of fresh air.
His burst saw him win the A-Leagues Young Footballer of the Year, the Harry Kewell Award – for being Australia’s best player under the age of 23 – and being named in the PFA Team of the Season.
He led the league in successful dribbles with 89, which was 22 more than anyone else in the competition and provided more assists than any other U23 player (three).
Arzani was different – and former Socceroos boss Bert van Marwijk thought so too.
The calls to ‘cap him’ were coming far and wide, similar to that of Kuol in the lead-in to Qatar. Van Marwijk heeded the call, naming him in the provisional, then final Socceroos squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
At the time, he was the youngest Aussie ever to feature in a World Cup squad and was the youngest out of all the players to be in Russia. Days later, Arzani rewarded van Marwijk’s faith and thrust himself into contention to either start or play a significant role off the bench when he fired home a brilliant goal in their final tune-up friendly against Hungary.
INS AND OUTS: Isuzu UTE A-League 2023-24 Transfer Centre
“You saw in the last 20 minutes Arzani played in Hungary. That’s the reason I took him in this squad,” van Marwijk said.
“He can make the difference.”
A coach who has managed the likes of Arjen Robben, Wesley Sneijder, Robin Van Persie and more doesn’t just say that about anyone and the former Netherlands boss was willing to trust him in those big moments.
When the game was on the line against France, Denmark and Peru, van Marwijk threw Arzani into the mixer and the 19-year-old – despite his lack of experience on the big stage – was far from overawed on the big stage.
It was a sink or swim moment. Arzani didn’t even tread, he basked in it. After his showings – particularly against the Danish – there were even calls to start him, even if it was overshadowed by the public outcry to play national icon Tim Cahill for the crunch group stage matches.
In fact, going into the game against Peru, Arzani had created a scoring chance once every nine minutes and twenty seconds at the World Cup, which was the most frequent of any player at the tournament.
From there, a move to Manchester City materialised, signing a four year deal with the club before being shipped out on two-year loan to Scottish giants Celtic – who were coached by Brendan Rodgers in his first stint at The Hoops.
However, on October 31 2018, Arzani’s career fell into a tail-spin. On club debut against Dundee, Arzani tore his ACL, meaning he would miss the remainder of the season, along with the 2019 Asian Cup under van Marwijk’s successor – Graham Arnold.
It was a blow he has never – so far – quite recovered from, even after his ligaments were back intact. Loan deals to Eredivisie side Utrecht, Danish outfit AGF and Belgian club Lommel followed where a lack of minutes and inability to stay fit marred each of the subsequent moves.
Last year, he ventured back to Australia to link up with the Bulls, and he felt early in the piece he was starting to recapture his love of the game once more.
However, Arzani doesn’t look back on his European experience with anger, in fact, he believes it’s helped him shape the person he is now.
“I’ve learned that I’m quite a positive person,” he told Optus Sport last year.
“I always tend to look on the bright side of things. But no matter how bad things are I’ve managed to keep going and keep pushing. I’m happy to know that I have such a resilient personality. That’s probably the biggest thing.
“[Resilience has] been very important. I’ve had a lot of very high highs and a lot of very low lows. It’s been a tough last few years. So it’s been very important for me to be resilient and positive.
“There were times when I’d reached the point where I really wasn’t enjoying what I was doing but I kept at it. I kept myself fit and I kept myself going. I’m in a better place now, mentally.
“This is the time where I can use all the experiences I’ve had to my advantage and I can kick on.”
Although there’s undeniable talent in Arzani’s kitbag, the biggest knock on his game has always been his lack of defensive workrate and engine, something Joyce was particularly critical of during his stint at City.
“I think where he struggled a little bit was with defensive work rate,” former teammate Thomas Sorensen told KEEPUP last year.
“He was always great when the team had the ball. I know Warren (Joyce) was frustrated, yes he could turn the game on its head, but he needed him to do it defensively. That’s where he was struggling.”
It’s a notion that continues to dominate the discourse surrounding Arzani.
In fact, the mere mention of his name is a polarising topic among Australian football fans. Some even brand him a flop or a wasted talent, without really taking into consideration he’s still – in the grand scheme of things – a young player who still has areas to grow.
That’s why his move to Victory is all the more intriguing. In Popovic’s words he’s entering the “right environment” to reach his full potential.
The Victory taskmaster has made a habit of getting the best out of players who were previously deemed either not good enough or had struggled in different environments and under the tutelage of other managers.
Take Ben Folami, Jake Brimmer and Nick D’Agostino for example. All players who had respective knocks on their game but took the next step in their development under Popovic – especially through intense pre-season schedules.
Meanwhile, Folami and Brimmer had both struggled to find their feet under Popovic’s predecessor Grant Brebner when they first arrived at Victory – but returned the following season in better knick – earning a Socceroos call-up and winning the Johnny Warren Medal respectively.
D’Agostino – on the other hand – had knocks on his fitness and conditioning levels prior to joining Popovic at Victory. Similarly to Folami, the striker earned a maiden call-up to the national team within a year and was off to Europe in January, signing for Norwegian side Viking.
Even take the example of Matthew Spiranovic – who was coaxed out of semi-retirement by Popovic to join Victory in 2021 – and put together some important performances before officially hanging up the boots last season.
Although there’s always the odd exception; what’s to say the same can’t happen with Arzani should he truly buy into the Popovic philosophy?
If so, then this could be the perfect place for Arzani to plan a full-scale relaunch of his career.
