But the former Socceroos wunderkind is confident he's hitting the reset button for the final time.
Arzani was selected for the 2018 World Cup as a teenager but an ACL tear months later started a run of struggles with form and injury that ruined his crack at the big time.
After an ankle injury prematurely ended his return campaign in the A-League Men with Macarthur last season, Arzani signed for Melbourne Victory.
Now 24, the winger is confident he has put his past struggles behind him.
"It was a rollercoaster for sure," Arzani told AAP.
"There was a lot of highs, a lot of lows.
"But same as how it happened, the ups and downs, I also have ups and downs myself. It's obviously really tough when I think about it and it obviously plays a part.
"But I'm trying to get past that mentally to have another cracking season and I know I can.
"The most important thing for me is to just get over that mental hurdle and that regret of what's happened in the past and stuff that was out of my control and just try and get back to playing my best football."
Arzani links up with his former Melbourne City football director John Didulica and coach Tony Popovic at Victory, and is confident they can get him back firing.
"The chat with Popa was just it was gonna be on me and that for me was the right thing at the right time," he said.
"I needed someone to really push me to try and get the most out of me and I want to push to try and be back in the national team.
"It's been good. I wouldn't say (Popovic is) brutal, he just asks a lot.
"He demands professionalism all the time and I think it can be tough, especially for some people that aren't used to being under those kinds of demands constantly.
"But for me I feel like I thrive under that kind of pressure. So it's good for me."
Arzani would love to win back a Socceroos berth with the Asian Cup and World Cup qualifiers on the horizon.
"That's the plan. The first step for me now is performing at Victory," he said.
"It's a pretty clear path. You've got to play good footy, you've got to be helping out your team week in, week out.
"I've got to put in my shift defensively but I think I've also got to start adding goals and assists week in, week out to my tally and then I should be okay."
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