DENVER, Colorado — Socceroos attacker Daniel Arzani has admitted that he may be forced to seek a move away from Ferencvaros, as new limits surrounding foreign players in Hungary squeeze his minutes less than a year out from the World Cup.
Following two strong years at Melbourne Victory which saw him return to the national team fold, Arzani, 26, sealed a return to Europe with the 37-time Hungarian champions in June.
However, the passage of new regulations in the Hungarian league after his signing, stipulating that there must be five locals, including one aged 21 or under, on that park at all times, combined with manager Robbie Keane’s reversion to a 3-5-2, has limited Arzani to just two substitute appearances in Budapest.
Appointed mid-2024-25 and subsequently guiding Zöldek to a seventh-straight title, Keane has described the regulations as “ridiculous,” with the Irishman currently managing a squad comprised of 19 internationals.
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“It’s a difficult situation,” Arzani told ESPN. “It’s frustrating, but the best thing I can do right now is just what I’m doing: staying fit and trying to stay mentally in a good place. Eventually, you will always get an opportunity.
“I know our gaffer has come out in the press and talked about it a lot as well, and how it’s affected a lot of our players. It’s frustrating, but it is the situation at least until January.
“I spoke to [Keane] last week, before I came into camp. It’s a difficult situation for him. He also feels really snookered with it, because he wants to play a certain formation. He wants to play his 3-5-2; I’m not really a wing-back. I’m not really a No. 9.
“It’s difficult. As a player, you need opportunities to come on to be able to prove that you can play. It’s just a lot harder, almost impossible, to get those opportunities.”
With this in mind, and his sights set on representing Australia at another World Cup, Arzani said he’d spoken with Ferencvaros about a January move — Arzani would prefer to stay in Europe — to find regular football.
“It’s something I spoke with the club about,” he said. “If things don’t really shift, especially around this rule, it could be really difficult for me to get minutes, and it would not be good for me and probably not good for the club if I stay, just sitting on a bench, not doing anything.
“[A move] is something I would definitely look at. But you never know what’s going to happen in football; it’s the craziest sport ever. So I’m just going to keep working. I keep my head down, and if I get an opportunity, I’m just going to make sure I’m in the right place to grab it with both hands.”
Despite his lack of minutes, Arzani was called up by Tony Popovic for the Socceroos tour of North America during the October window — with the coach noting the mercurial attacker’s physical fitness was good despite his challenges in clubland — and he subsequently came on as a late substitute in Friday’s 1-0 win over Canada.
“[The goal coming in was] to try and help the team as much as possible and to be able to get as much game time as possible,” Arzani said. “The only way for me to do that was to really perform the training and make sure I’m showing up in every way; being on it during all the sessions, the gym sessions, the yoga sessions, everything.
“I feel really, really good. I’ve been doing a lot of extra running on the side apart from training. It’s always a difficult position for a player [not playing], mentally but physically as well. It’s really easy to let things slip away.”
