Marco Tilio: When Celtic called, I couldn't say no
When the telephone rang and Marco Tilio saw it was Celtic on the other end, his response was as quick and swift as the playing style that brought the club to try and sign him. The Australia internationalist only had one thing on his mind when the call came in and that was to make this move to Paradise happen, as he put pen to paper on a five-year deal from Australian side, Melbourne City. The 21-year-old has joined his new team-mates for the first week of pre-season training ahead of the new season, and the exciting attacker said it’s a dream come true to finally be here.
Speaking at Celtic Park today, Marco Tilio said: “It was a couple of weeks ago that I knew everything was falling into place. It was amazing for me because this is such a big club and I couldn’t say no to it. The move to Europe has been on my mind and I just worked on trying to perform on the field. When I moved to Melbourne City three years ago, it was my goal to get to Europe and here I am with an opportunity that has presented itself and I can’t wait to get started. The club had kept tabs on me for a couple of seasons now, but I never really thought about it and I just tried to perform on the field. Now I’m here, everyone I’ve spoken to has been amazing and I’m really happy to be here.”
With trophies to compete for and UEFA Champions League football on the way, the former A-League champion is excited to get going in the new campaign.
He added: “I spoke to Aaron Mooy before I made my decision as I had been involved with him at the national team a few times. He couldn’t speak highly enough of the club and the people at the club, and it brought it to my attention that I really wanted to do this. I spoke to Brendan Rodgers as well and he said I’m an exciting attacker and he likes to play an attacking brand of football and that’s what I like to do as a player. I hope with this opportunity I have that I can do that. It’s going to be massive to try to win back-to-back trebles - that is what the club’s goal is. At Melbourne, it was all about winning trophies as well and I have some experience of doing that so I hope I can bring it here. It’s a massive bonus playing in the Champions League. It’s a dream and to be part of a team that’s going into that tournament is amazing and hopefully, I can present myself on that stage too.”
And Brendan Rodgers is delighted with the latest addition to his Celtic squad. The Celtic manager said: "Marco's slight in stature but he’s very quick and he’s very dynamic, and I think he’ll prove to be a really good addition to the squad. He can play in a couple of positions and he scores goals. He’s a young player hopefully with a bright future and I look forward to seeing him.”
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