The Norwegian winger proved it today when he signed on the dotted line for another year. I am delighted.
I thought that this was going to be an interesting week. It’s certainly started well.
Elyounoussi is a fantastic player, and although given the choice I’d have rather have had a permanent signing for the wing I don’t believe either Ryan Fraser or Jordan Ibe have anything like the quality this guy has. He’s the better player of the three by quite a way.
The Celtic fans already know what to expect from him; he is a sublime footballer, a huge talent. His last loan was blighted by injuries, which is simply down to bad luck. When he’s fit he’s a top performer and is exactly the kind of signing I wanted us to make.
We are no stronger for his signing; that’s a fact. We’ve simply maintained our strength on the left side of the pitch. But let’s not downplay this either; he is a cut above most other players in the league, and on the left side of midfield he has no equal in the SPL.
Retaining him for another year is a massive moment accomplishment by all at Celtic Park. If we can secure Forster with him, I’ll be really impressed.
Of course, there’s more work to do. We’ve maintained our strength in one position, but we need to actually end this window stronger as a team. For all that, tonight we should be very happy with what the club has managed to do. I knew we had a good chance of getting the player, as he was definitely aware of how big the club was and wanted to be here for the ten … but it’s impressive that we’ve gotten it done in the timeframe we have.
I wonder if this is a player we could bring here on a permanent deal? Southampton do want him off the books, and they know they won’t get the fee they paid for him. But this is not the right time for Celtic to be spending the kind of money we’d need to … yet it would make good sense for us to have included a future fee as part of this deal.
If we have, I have yet to hear about it, but don’t be surprised.
One of the things we know of Elyounoussi is that he will get us goals; he got seven in the twenty games he played in the last campaign, and has a sterling scoring record throughout his career thus far. He more than 80 goals in his 280 odd games … these are great stats for an attacking midfield player who plays out on the wing. He can be huge for us.
I’m pretty excited about this deal.
It’s the first of many. Although he’s a player who’s been at the club for the last year I still think this is a significant moment. He is far and away the most exciting footballer any Scottish club will sign in this window … I think I can say that with some degree of certainty, even without knowing what other business we might do.
Congratulations to all at Celtic Park for this excellent piece of business.
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