Socceroo Mooy 'has plenty of interest around the world' including Celtic FC

Socceroos midfielder Aaron Mooy has had worldwide interest after negotiating an early release from his contract with Chinese Super League Shanghai Port.

A Socceroos hero as they qualified for the World Cup by edging out Peru in a penalty shootout, free agent Mooy, 31, has been strongly linked with Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic for next season.

CELTIC IN MIX FOR FREE AGENT MOOY

Aaron Mooy has a plethora of options after parting company with Shanghai Port FC, according to his agent Josh Barnett.
The Socceroos midfielder has been linked with Celtic but a reunion with Ange Postecoglou at Parkead remains just one of several possibilities.
Mooy was a key figure for Australia as they overcame Peru in a penalty shoot-out to qualify for the World Cup.

More Australian football news can be found on FTBL.

However, Mooy’s agent Josh Barnett of UK-based ICM Stellar Sports said the former Huddersfield Town and Brighton linchpin would not be making any snap decisions on his future.

While a Parkhead reunion with former Socceroos mentor Postecoglou appears a strong possibility - Mooy is currently based in Scotland as he ponders his next move - Barnett insisted he has options aplenty, both in the UK, and likely the Middle East, Asia and the US.

Another possibility is a return to Melbourne City, the team he left to join parent club Manchester City back in 2016.

“There’s plenty of interest around the world for Aaron and we’re weighing up all the options,” Barnett told FTBL.

“There’s certainly no rush to make a decision.”

Mooy’s wife Nicola hails from Scotland and remained there during his nearly two years in China, where onerous quarantine regulations and mandated COVID bio-hubs placed huge pressure on his ability to combine club and international football.

It was the difficult juxtaposition between both which played a part in Mooy’s exit strategy with a year remaining on a Shanghai contract reportedly worth $130,000 a week.

Mooy defied entreaties from his club to return to China for pre-season training back in May to instead focus on helping Australia get past UAE and Peru to book World Cup spot, a laudable achievement coming off the back of just one previous competitive match in 2022.

He had a brief spell with St Mirren in his formative football years but would return to the Scottish Premiership as the finished article should Postecoglou successfully bring him on board to help fill the void left by the departures of fellow Socceroo Tom Rogic and Nir Bitton.

Mooy was initially floated as a potential Postecoglou recruit when he took charge a year ago and has fond memories of their previous working relationship with the former Socceroos mentor.

Mooy said in 2016: “He’s a very good coach. The style that he wants to play is the way I like playing as well. I’m happy to be playing under him. He’s intimidating.

“But the way he wants to play football, I want to play like that as well. I’m enjoying it.”