Taylor keen for his wingman to return
GREG TAYLOR has expressed hope that Celtic can persuade Mohamed Elyounoussi to return to Parkhead for a third loan spell this summer after watching the Norwegian winger run riot in the 6-0 Premiership win over Livingston.
Elyounoussi was undeterred at having three goal-bound attempts denied by onloan Rangers keeper Robby McCrorie and netted a secondhalf double in the rout.
The 31-times capped 26-year-old is set to go back to Southampton, who signed him for £16 million from Basel in 2018, next month and it is unclear if he will be in Glasgow for the 2021/22 campaign.
There is still no indication who will take over from Neil Lennon as manager on a permanent basis nearly two months after the Northern Irishman resigned.
However, left-back Taylor, who performed well against Livingston and is hoping to get the nod ahead of Diego Laxalt in the Scottish Cup last-16 encounter with Rangers at Ibrox as a result of his display, is keen to see “Moi” involved.
“He is a talented boy,” he said. “You don’t move for the money that he has in his career without being so talented. You see it and he’s really got good quality in front of goal. We all rate him fully inside the dressing room. We’ve seen the levels of performances that he delivers in training every day and also in the matches.
“You need to ask Moi and the board what is going to happen. It is certainly not a decision for me. But we, obviously, always want to always keep our players. If that is an opportunity further down the line, I’m sure the boys would be happy with that.”
“I think he enjoys it here. Everyone enjoys winning games and scoring goals.
“He’s very versatile and I think that is something that is very important both within the games and also for different games and systems for the manager to go with what he sees fit. It was a 4-3-3 against Livingston for large parts of it and we caused them many problems.”
Taylor feels Celtic have been the better team than Rangers in their last two encounters with their city
rivals even though they have lost and drawn them and is confident they can defeat Steven Gerrard’s team if the Scottish Cup fourth round game goes ahead as scheduled on Saturday.
“It’s a big game, a massive game,” he said. “Every game is big at Celtic, but it’s a cup tie and is in the one competition we have left to play for before until the end of the season.
“For that reason, it is paramount that we do our best to win that competition and that starts for the next game. It’s a tough place to go, but it’s an opportunity that we are all looking forward to.
“In the last couple of games, we feel as though we have edged it and competed well, so we just aim to put on another performance like that and go through in the tie.
“You have got to look forward to these size of games. We’ve only got one opportunity because it is a cup tie. Regardless of who you are playing, you have to get it right on the day. We are confident going into every game. We are Celtic. We’re a massive club. We expect to win games and it is going to be no different going into the next game.
“The cup run and the level of performances that have been put in have been different level. The aim is to try and finish the season on some form of high and get a win in this competition.”
James Forrest, who opened the scoring for Celtic against Livingston, is a doubt after suffering a hamstring strain but Taylor is hopeful he will be fit.
“He is such an asset when he is in full flow and fingers crossed that his wee knock is not too bad and he’s good to go for Saturday,” he said.