Exclusive: McNamara issues blunt message to Celtic forward after manager admission | OneFootball

EXCLUSIVE

Jackie McNamara has issued a blunt message to Celtic winger Daniel Arzani about his need for game time if he is to reignite his international career.

Speaking exclusively to Football Insider assistant editor Russell Edge, the former Hoops and Scotland defender says the 20-year-old Manchester City loanee needs to prove himself for Neil Lennon’s side before thinking about stepping up for Australia.

The six-cap Aussie international has been missing for most of his Celtic career after rupturing his cruciate ligament but has been confirmed by Australia coach Gary van Egmond to be in line for a call-up for the Under-23 qualifiers.

McNamara says that the young winger needs to put his club first if he does want to play internationally in January, insisting he will not get a call-up if he is not performing for the first-team at Parkhead.

McNamara told Football Insider: “He needs to play, he needs to get games – that’s just inevitable. It’s very unlikely that he’ll just jump into international football without playing football at Celtic.

“You need to play some sort of football, whether it be reserve football to start before getting back into the first-team, he’s been out for quite a while.”

Arzani has just 23 minutes of action under his belt for Celtic after coming on as a substitute for his debut back in October 2018.

He suffered the injury 10 minutes before full-time in that clash against Dundee and has not featured in a single matchday squad since as he recovers from his setback.

In other Celtic news, Alan Hutton has revealed to Football Insider what he has heard about a player the Hoops were beaten to by their rivals this summer.