Socceroos midfielder Aiden O’Neill ready for another shot at European football

Having played in the English Premier League as a teenager, Socceroo Aiden O’Neill is set for another stint abroad.

Aiden O'Neill starred for Melbourne City during his three-year stint at the club. Picture: Quinn Rooney/Getty Images

Belgium-bound Socceroo Aiden O’Neill is eager to rekindle his European club career after becoming a “better player” and a “better person” during his five-year A-League spell.

O’Neill, who turns 25 next week, has signed a four-year contract with Belgian Pro League club Standard Liege.

It will be the classy midfielder’s second spell abroad after playing in the English Premier League for Burnley as an 18-year-old in 2016.

During his time at Burnley, O’Neill was also loaned out to lower league clubs Oldham and Fleetwood Town.

The Queenslander returned to Australia in 2018 for further loan spells with the Central Coast Mariners and Brisbane Roar before signing a three-year deal in 2020 with Melbourne City, where he won an A-League championship and three premierships.

“I always said that I was coming back to Australia to improve as a player and then head back over to Europe with a lot more experience and as a better player and a better person as well with more life skills,” O’Neill said.

“I feel I’ve done that. I’ve won championships, I’ve won trophies and now I’m raring to go and ready to make that move and stay there.

“I had a couple of hiccups along the way, which everyone does, but I think it’s worked out perfectly in terms of timing.”

Socceroo Aiden O'Neill (right) battles with Argentina’s Nahuel Molina in China earlier this month. Picture: Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

O’Neill had been linked with a move to French club Troyes, who are coached by his former Melbourne City mentor Patrick Kisnorbo.

However, Troyes’ relegation to the second-tier of French football led to a change in O’Neill’s destination.

“I was still speaking to ‘PK’, and then the opportunity came up with Standard Liege, and it really felt like the one for me,” he said.

“We were talking for a while, and I think it’s a great club and a great opportunity for me to take the next step, move back to Europe and play consistent football over there.”

The move to Belgium was also backed by national coach Graham Arnold, who gave O’Neill his Socceroos debut in Australia’s two-game series against Ecuador in March.

“He was happy for me. I spoke to him about a week prior to finalising it all, and he gave me the go ahead and was excited about the opportunity,” O’Neill said.

“He spent some time playing in Belgium as well, and we talked about the place, the league, the city and all the fans, and that now it was up to me to prove myself over there and stay in the Socceroos team.”

O”Neill said it was an “unbelievable” experience playing for Australia against world champions Argentina in China earlier this month despite the Socceroos losing 2-0.

“It against showed a lot of us boys that we can compete at that level,” he said.

O’Neil also backed his former club City to bounce back from its embarrassing 6-1 A-League grand final loss to the Mariners.

“It’s a tough to know what exactly went wrong that night, but City are such a well-run club that they will continue to have success,” he said.