Mohamed Elyounoussi details pre-Celtic Neil Lennon chat

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Mohamed Elyounoussi has revealed the promise Neil Lennon made him prior to his loan move to Celtic.

The £16million Southampton man made the season-long move to Scotland near the end of the transfer window after a frustrating time down south. Elyounoussi started just eight league games in the whole of last season for the Saints despite arriving as a marquee signing.

And after featuring little at the start of this campaign, he felt he had to get out and play some football. Enter Lennon.

“I had a chat with the coach and I was going to ask him about what he expected and tactical things,” Elyounoussi told the Daily Echo.

“However, the only thing he said to me was that: ‘You’re a good football player, we know what you can do. You do not lose skills during one season. You lose self-confidence, you start to think a little too much and such things, but skills do not lose you. I’ll help you get back there where you were’.

“That was enough to persuade me.”

Elyounoussi probably appreciated the honesty from Lennon

It’s interesting to hear that Lennon kept things so simple in his pre-signing chat with the winger. Many managers would overcomplicate things with new recruits, telling them every detail about how the side play and how they see them fitting into their play.

Lennon’s message to Elyounoussi was straightforward and the Norwegian probably appreciated that. He is obviously a very talented player having moved for such a vast sum so recently and it’s just a case of putting a smile back on his face again.

The majority of Celtic fans realised that this was only going to be a one-year deal when it was announced. The Norwegian will see his overall level above the Scottish game but that doesn’t mean that he can’t excel until May and lead us to another title.

He’s shown interesting early signs without every being a standout. However, he was our best player in the defeat to Livingston and perhaps the only man who got pass marks that day. Celtic fans will hope that that’s a sign of things to come.