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Fullname: Mohamed Amine Elyounoussi
aka: Mo Elyounoussi, Moi Elyounoussi, Mohamed Elyounoussi
Born: 4 August 1994
Birthplace: Al Hoceima, Morocco
Signed: 30 Aug 2019 (one year loan from Southampton), 31 Aug 2020 (another 1 year loan to Celtic)
Left: 30 June 2021
Position: Midfielder, Winger
Debut: Hamilton 0-1 Celtic, League, 14 Sep 2019
Squad No.: 27
Internationals: Norway
International Caps: ? [complete at end of career]
International Goals: ? [complete at end of career]
Biog
Mohamed Elyounoussi was an expensive £16m signing for his parent club, Southampton in 2018 who despite the high value, did not get played often enough. On the back of this concern, the club opted to send him out on loan to Celtic. It was quite a turn as Southampton had been a successful destination in recent years for Celtic players going out (e.g. Armstrong, Wanyama and van Dijk), so a decent favour back the way.
By background, he was of Moroccan descent, but had grown up in Norway after his family had emigrated when he was a child. He opted for Norway when he had grown up. He was by the time of his arrival at Celtic, hitting his peak years, aged 25, but needed a chance to further prove himself. He had been a huge success previously at both Molde & Basel.
Season 2019/20
He arrived at Celtic on loan to help bolster the Celtic squad, there was no denying on paper that he was a quality loan signing, but many were questioning the need for him. On the other hand, Celtic had been humiliatingly knocked out of the Champions League qualifiers by CFR Cluj. Therefore Elyounoussi from before he even had a chance to kick a ball, was between a rock & a hard place. He was to quickly change their minds with some style.
He had a very fine start, setting up the goal in a 1-0 victory v Hamilton in September 2019, and having hit the ground running he was from there on in a first team pick.
A tall player with an athletic build, he had the perfect physical attributes for the game and with his pace & skill on the ball, he was a valuable asset with some darting runs down the left-wing. Celtic’s First Team definitely looked an all round better side with him in it when he was on form.
He hit a very fine purple patch of form during October & November 2019, when he scored 7 goals over the two months, with some stellar goals too. When on form Celtic really were on top, and the fans started to demand in hope that the club buy him outright (an expensive option). A cynic could argue that he never scored against the strongest sides, but he was excellent v Lazio away which was one of the toughest matches of the season.
Injuries around December 2019 forced him out the First Team, including having had to be taken off in the league cup final v Sevco (Celtic thankfully still won 1-0).
On his return from injury, in his series of games he was a shadow of his best form, but many sympathised and knew he needed time. Sevco had fallen behind in the league race, and so there was no longer any urgency for his return. During his layoff for injury Celtic lost to Sevco in the New Years day game, and there were concerns about the league title race. Thankfully things turned. Then in March 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic hit, and football everywhere was on hold or cancelled.
Celtic sealed the historic nine-in-a-row league titles and but were to still complete the fourth treble in a row (Scottish Cup final delayed to December). Celtic completed the treble in December.
Despite the positive first season, it was still expected that he was returning back south permanently but opted to stay at Celtic for a further season much to the delight of the support. Reportedly, his parent club Southampton were said to be keen to give Mohamed Elyounoussi a chance to impress when he was to return from his loan at Celtic and said to regret loaning him to the Hoops when they ended up having to draft in others to fill his space.
He was regarded as having played a very worthy place in the achievements of the past season, and was a popular player in the squad. So the important ten-in-a-row season (2020/21) was key for both himself & Celtic.
Season 2020/21
Season 2020/21 didn’t pan out as it should have. It all just went wrong for Celtic, and Moi Elyounoussi was an often peripheral & unhelpful figure on the field. Celtic collapsed with humiliations in Europe, losing the domestic cup hegemony with a defeat in the league cup and then handing over the league without a fight to TheRangers.
In November 2020, after a humiliating defeat to Sparta Prague (4-1), ex-Celt Paul Lambert accused Moi Elyounoussi of “letting the great Jock Stein down” after Elyounoussi was caught on his phone during Celtic’s shock Europa League defeat to Sparta Prague (after he came off as a sub). In the following game (v Motherwell in the league), he scored a hat-trick in a 4-1 win. The original criticisms were making a mountain out of a molehill. He made the critics eat their words, or as he put it himself: “That’s finished, that’s behind me, the best way to talk is with my feet“.
Yet his form thereafter didn’t exactly support his case.
The problem was that despite all the attention, all the quality he could have, he was incredibly inconsistent. He was underperforming, albeit admittedly there were a number of such players under a manager on the edge. Elyounoussi should have been a lynchpin creating history with Celtic.
He seemed to acknowledge the issues at hand:
“Everyone has to take responsibility, look at themselves in the mirror. Everyone can improve, everyone can put more effort in.” (Elyounoussi)
Yet on statistics alone, he had a right to argue that he was one of the better performers that season. One stat calculated that he was earning a goal or assist every 105 minutes, but many were still unconvinced. The final league points tally seemed to indicate otherwise on his value.
His estimated transfer valuation by his parent club of £15m seemed to be very out of sync with reality, although hardly a new case in the modern football environment.
He signed off at the end of June 2021 thanking all at Celtic in his leaving message. We wished him the best.
Post-Celtic
He had a decent return once back at Southampton, There were reports that Arsenal were interested in signing him on the back of his form in early season 2021/22. Not many at Celtic were convinced of the veracity of the reports though.
In any case, his time there was to slip badly, with criticisms of the player not too dissimilar to that heard from Celtic fans from his second season at Celtic. Season 2022/23 saw Southampton relegated and humiliatingly end up bottom of the EPL, with Elyounoussi one of the players getting the worst stick from their supporters.
He moved on to Copenhagen, and later was to return to Glasgow with Norway, subbed on to score the equaliser in a 3-3 draw in a Euros 2024 qualifer. It was a dead rubber match as Scotland had already qualified for the tournament and Norway were out.
[….]
Quotes
“Everyone has to take responsibility, look at themselves in the mirror. Everyone can improve, everyone can put more effort in.”
Elyounoussi (2021)
Playing Career
| APPEARANCES (subs) |
LEAGUE | SCOTTISH CUP | LEAGUE CUP | EUROPE | TOTAL |
| 2019-20 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 6 | 21 |
| Goals | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 8 |
| 2020-21 | 34 | 2 | 1 | 9 | 44 |
| Goals | 10 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 17 |
| Total | 44 | 4 | 4 | 15 | 65 |
| Goals | 14 | 2 | 2 | 7 | 25 |
Honours with Celtic
Pictures
KDS
Articles
‘What a lad’: Moi Elyounoussi on the Celtic player who still blows him away
Graeme McGarry
Tue, 21 November 2023 at 5:30 pm GMT-5·5-min read
Mohamed Elyounoussi
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/lad-moi-elyounoussi-celtic-player-223000158.html
Kristoffer Ajer
Ryan Christie
Moi Elyounoussi raved about former Celtic teammate James Forrest. <i>(Image: SNS)</i>
Moi Elyounoussi raved about former Celtic teammate James Forrest. (Image: SNS)
CELTIC, as it does with many of its former players, has certainly left its mark on Moi Elyounoussi. The winger, who spent two years at the club, was back in Glasgow on international duty with Norway at the weekend, and he waxed lyrical about his former side and his time living in the city.
One man who left a huge impression on the 29-year-old was fellow winger James Forrest, who – if we are using the kind adjective – is even more experienced than he is. His only surprise was that the now 32-year-old wasn’t in the Scotland squad at the weekend alongside some of his other former teammates.
READ MORE: Kristoffer Ajer in Brendan Rodgers Celtic return verdict
But Forrest’s longevity and the fact he can still make a valuable contribution to Celtic is an inspiration to Elyounoussi, who hasn’t ruled out returning one day to be one of the elder statesmen in their squad himself.
“It’s amazing he’s 32 now – I wish I had those genes!” Elyounoussi said.
“What a lad. He’s such a good guy, he’s very humble and it’s great to see he’s still going strong. I hope they will have a successful season ahead.
“I heard he’s scored in 15 seasons in a row. That is incredible and I don’t know if I will achieve that.
“I have children and he doesn’t have any yet – so that’s a big minus for me! I have two under four, so I have grey hair now.
“He’s such a top professional I am not surprised he is continuing to do it. The only surprise is when people tell me his age – because he still looks so young!
“I still follow Celtic and it’s great to see them doing so well. I hope they have another successful season ahead.”
Elyounoussi enjoyed a successful spell at Celtic on a personal level, even though it was blighted somewhat by Covid-19 restrictions and a poor second season for the team overall, and his only real regret is that he didn’t get the full experience of playing on front of the Celtic support for a longer spell.
“I was only at the club for two years, but I still felt like a long time because I enjoyed it,” he said.
“I only had six months with fans and the rest was without. That was something I really missed, and it was something I was looking forward to, as that is why I stayed longer.
“But I have good memories on and off the pitch. They are good lads.
“I said to my wife it would be nice to come back and go to a game, see where we lived and just remember the good times.
“As soon as we landed it felt like being back in the old days – especially with the rain as well. I thought, ‘Glasgow hasn’t changed too much!’
“We also stayed in the same hotel we did with Celtic, so there was a lot of good memories coming back.
“I still stay in touch with some of the boys. There are a few still there from my time, like Callum (McGregor), Jamesie and Greg (Taylor). I talked to them after the game, and I still watch Celtic games. Even some fans are still in touch with me and that is nice.
“It was great to see such nice lads. Obviously, we shared many great memories together.”
The return to Glasgow was a little bittersweet for Elyounoussi in terms of his fortunes for the national side too, with his late goal claiming a draw for his nation, but the point ultimately counting for nothing with the Scots already home and hosed in the group.