Maybe or maybe not…
CELTIC have been dealt a blow in their pursuit of Moi Elyounoussi after the Southampton manager said he would like to give him the chance at the Premier League club next season.
As reported by the Sun, Ralph Hasenhuttl confirmed that he was keeping tabs on the winger, who scored twice in Celtic’s away draw with Lille. The Austrian coach also suggested that he would give the 26-year-old star a chance at breaking into his side next season – killing off any hope that Celtic might agree a deal to bring him to Celtic on a permanent basis.
“I am very deeply invested in what my loan players do and I am very happy for (Elyounoussi) that he scored and I am happy to see it.
“And, definitely, the player has a chance to maybe come back in and to be a part of the team, maybe next year.”
With seven goals in sixteen games, Elyounoussi looks to be back on track with Celtic now Lennon has decided to switch back to a 4-2-3-1. The situation with Elyounoussi will always be that the Saints will look to sell but they will want to recoup as much of the £16m they paid Basel.
Hasenhuttl may say that he has a way back into his Southampton team but given that the manager has sanctioned two loan moves, it is unlikely that Elyounoussi will feature fro the Premier League side.
This could be a blow if Celtic want to sign Moi on a permanent deal but Southampton want to keep him because of his form at Celtic. Or it might just be the case of a manager keeping an eye on his player and commenting on a decent performance, and a few goals scored in a high profile European game. That said manager may or may not even be the boss at St Mary’s this time next year – you know how things go in the English Premier League.
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