Celtic winger Mohamed Elyounoussi has touched on why he decided to sign for the Hoops.
The Norwegian has quite the CV to his name. Spells with Molde, Basel, and now Southampton is clear proof that he has talent. He’s netted against the likes of Celtic and Manchester City in Europe, and has an exceptional left peg on him.
However, his career most certainly stalled during his first year in English football. He would make only 19 appearances for Southampton, and it was clear something different was needed for his career.
But just why did he choose Celtic in the end? Speaking to Norwegian outlet TV2, he explained the reasoning behind the decision.
“After some injuries, and as the playing time gets less and less, you get into a bubble where you think a little too much.
“Yes, you have to have the skills to get where you are today, but for me, football is a lot about self-confidence and mental. I lost a bit of that (at Southampton), and I lost a bit of pleasure.
“This is why it was important to get away and try something new, and find my way back to the joy of expressing yourself on the football field. I’m allowed to do that here (at Celtic).”
Difficult to see this being anything other than temporary
Elyounoussi has proven in the past to be a class act. In total throughout his career, he’s gone for a grand sum of just over £19million (Transfermarkt). Plenty of money has been spent on him, and that tells you something.
He put in a man-of-the-match display against Cluj last Thursday night, before proving to be our only positive player against Livingston on Sunday. Elyounoussi’s individual performances are slowly getting to the level we would expect of him, and that’s one piece of good news for Neil Lennon.
But with the Norwegian, it certainly feels like a case of enjoying it while we can. Southampton surely won’t want to entertain actually letting him go if he becomes a success at Parkhead. And if the loan spell fails somehow? Celtic simply wouldn’t want to keep him either.
He signed for Southampton for far too much money for them to just let him go. We would have to break our transfer record by around £7m just for Saints not to make a loss on him. There’s no incentive for the Premier League club to lose him to us permanently.
But there’s plenty of time before he has to head back to England in any case. He’s here to express himself, and to get his confidence back once again. It’s clear he didn’t enjoy his time with Southampton last season. Already, it looks like that won’t be a problem here.
He looks buzzing to be plying his trade at Parkhead. And, with a bit of luck, his desire to get his form back will reap rewards for us as a club.
Receive a digest of our best Celtic content each week direct to your mailbox
