Marco Tilio finally made his Celtic debut on Saturday against Motherwell – and it has some fans relishing what more the Aussie could offer the club this season.
The 22-year-old signed for the Parkhead giants in the summer from Melbourne City for £1.5million, putting pen to paper on a bumper five-year deal with the Treble winners. But Tilio had been hampered with injury problems almost from the moment he stepped off the plane in Glasgow and before the weekend, had failed to kick a single ball for the Celtic first-team.
He appeared for Celtic B alongside four other fringe first-team players against Ayr United in Michael Moffat’s testimonial but disappeared out of the picture again. But he made a cameo for the Australia U23 side last weekend and coupled with his return to fitness, Brendan Rodgers decided to include him on the bench against the Steelmen.
It took an injury to Yang for Tilio to be introduced in the 94th minute as Celtic chased a winner after conceding a Motherwell equaliser. That didn’t come but Hoops fans were enthused by what Tilio had to offer across his seven-minute competitive debut for the club.
Tilio took to Instagram on Sunday reacting to his first game in green and white, before thanking the fans for their reception. He captioned a picture of himself with: “Disappointed not to win but a proud moment! My long-awaited debut at Paradise!! Thank you for the warm welcome”.
And in the comments of his post, Celtic supporters were optimistic. One fan said: “Looked class when you came on, can’t wait to see more Marco”.
Another posted: “More to come weeman”.
This supporter wrote: “More to come from you 100%”.
This punter told Brendan Rodgers: “Should have had more than 5 minutes”.
Another commented: “Looked electric looking forward to seeing more MT23”.
Finally, this user joked: “This lad looks very sharp. Good to see you in the flesh and that your a real person”.
