Australian star Aaron Mooy becomes a free agent

Celtic move for free agent Aaron Mooy would make sense, but only if his salary demands are reasonable. Paul Gillespie reporting…

Amongst all the footballing news today involving Celtic and beyond, there have been reports breaking that last summer’s midfield target Aaron Mooy is available on a free, after himself and his club Shanghai Port came to an agreement to mutually terminate his contract. Mooy had been over playing in China since his move from Brighton during the 2020/21 season.

According to Optus Sport, transfer guru Fabrizio Romano has revealed that Mooy has now officially left the Chinese Super League club and is on the market. Celtic did retain an interest in the versatile Aussie last year when his fellow countryman Ange Postecoglou took over the Parkhead hot seat. The move failed to materialise as we secured the services of James McCarthy as a free agent instead, which hasn’t really gone to plan for either player or club.

One does wonder now if Ange may very well reignite that original interest in the playmaker as he is readily available. His exploits for the national team have saw him garner praise from all quarters as he helped them reach the World Cup in Qatar this season. It is thought that Mooy was on silly money over in Asia and that would not do if he were to make the move to Glasgow.

At 31, he is still in his peak years and could have a considerable impact in Scotland. One of the complaints of last term during Glasgow Derby’s was our lack of physicality against theRangers midfield, who by all accounts had brought their hammers to throw in both the Scottish Cup Semi-final and the final derby match of the League campaign at Celtic Park.

Mooy is undoubtedly a great technician, but he can also put it about if and when required and is no shrinking violet that’s for sure. Having already played in the Scottish Premiership he will know fine well the edgy side to the game up here and will have had his fair share of experiences with St Mirren back in 2011-12.

Adept in both the deep and forward midfield roles, he brings a phenomenal amount of experience at both club and international level – having also played within the City Group for some several years before leaving permanently for Huddersfield. Instrumental in their promotion push to the Premier League a few years back, he was a mainstay in the side and was eventually bought by Brighton.

Successful on the South Coast, he was sold to Shanghai Port when Graham Potter became manager. It seemed a bizarre decision at the time as Mooy was always dependable and if he didn’t provide craft and guile he would put in the hard yards on the field of play. Good in the air also, he could be deceiving from set-pieces and corner kicks into the opposition penalty area. Something we lack also at this current juncture throughout the side.

Finally, married to a Scottish woman it would pull on the heart strings and make perfect sense for a return to the cinch Premiership at this stage in the Australian’s footballing career. After losing Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton this summer, there is undeniably space in the squad for another midfielder. The coup de grace would be that he can play both midfield berths if need be, which could only complement an already talented bunch in the engine room at Celtic Park.

Could we see Ange make a move for Aaron this window?

Paul Gillespie