Marco Tilio feels a more complete player now than the one who first joined Celtic two years ago as the on-loan Melbourne City star revealed consistent dialogue with the Scottish champions.
Tilio has rediscovered his best form in Melbourne heading into Saturday night’s Isuzu UTE A-League Semi-Final second leg against Western United at AAMI Park.
The 23-year-old produced a standout performance in last weeks’ 3-0 first-leg triumph.
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Back at City in a second loan stint, Tilio’s time at Scottish powerhouse Celtic has not gone according to plan. He has seen just 27 minutes of action at the club to date. A big part of that was the fact he started behind the eight ball when joining the Hoops two years ago due to injury.
After an injury-interrupted start to 2024-25, Tilio looks like the player of old under the watchful eye of Aurelio Vidmar, who believes he is the “best winger in the league” – frighteningly quick and a threat in attack.
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“If I’m being completely honest, I think I’m in a better position now than what I was back then,” Tilio told reporters.
“I’ve matured a lot in the last couple of years.
“I had my first injury going over to Scotland, and pretty much ridden all those waves, and here I am now.
“I feel more mature. I feel more a complete player now, and understanding of the game a lot better.”
With game time limited at Celtic, a return to familiar surroundings eventuated at the back end of the 2023-24 season, albeit on loan at City before securing another temporary switch to the 2021 champions, this time a season-long deal away from Celtic Park.
Five goals and four assists. It is a significant return for a player who has been in the spotlight since Celtic splashed out a reported AUD $3million. It is also his best goal return since bagging 10 goals during City’s run to the 2023-24 Grand Final.
16,912 kilometres away from Glasgow and with three years still remaining on his Celtic contract, Tilio revealed he is still in dialogue with the club.
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“(I) speak to obviously team managers, and there’s a loans manager who reaches out after most games,” said the Australian attacker.
“We’re back and forth in conversation.”
For Tilio, he has found the “missing piece” while back on loan at Melbourne City.
“Since I moved to Celtic, I’ve just been looking to find consistent game time, consistently in playing and in my body feeling confident in that again,” he said.
“Here I am now in that position, and I’m really glad where I am.”
He added: “It’s just consistency. I’ve found it hard to find consistency over the last couple of years with injury rides and whatnot.
“That consistency and confidence, and I believe in myself when I’m in this sort of position.
“Just confident, consistent game time, and I know what I can bring to the team.”
Tilio’s form also saw him called up by the Subway Socceroos for March’s international window.
While he did not feature for Tony Popovic’s side in 2026 FIFA Men’s World Cup, it was another sign of his return to form.
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“There’s a certain way (Socceroos head coach Tony Popovic) wants you to be as a player, and you’ve just got to buy into that,” he said.
“And that’s what I’ve come away from that camp, knowing what I have to do to put myself in the best position to be back there.
“So I’m just doing everything I can to be in the position to be selected again.”
“Obviously there were conversations had (with Popovic),” Tilio continued.
“There were certain things they wanted me to implement into my game and as a player, you always take it on board from coaches, information, and I just wanted to implement that.
“Whether that’s working harder in defence, or being better up front, being more clinical, all these kind of things sort of piece themselves together.”
