Elyounoussi took Celtic advice from Armstrong

MOHAMED Elyounoussi has revealed that Stuart Armstrong was pivotal to his loan move to Parkhead.

While Armstrong stalled on a new Celtic deal before moving to Southampton for around £7million in the summer of 2018, the Scotland midfielder was gushing in his praise for his old club as he and Elyounoussi sat next to each other at the club’s Staplewood training base.

Elyounoussi also got advice from Norway teammate Kristoffer Ajer and goalkeeper Fraser Forster and he’s so glad he has made the switch.

After being snubbed by Ralph Hasselhuttl, he has redisovered his best form at Parkhead with seven goals and five assists to become a smash hit with the supporters and win the Ladbrokes player of the month for October.

He said: “I spoke to Stuart, of course, as we’re team-mates at Southampton and he was able to tell me things that I didn’t know about the club.

“He told me so many good things about Celtic. And it was perfect that he sat next to me in the Southampton trainingground dressing room.

“Of course, I had also spoken with Kris Ajer about Celtic, too, so I had a good knowledge of what I was coming into.

“I didn’t look at it as a step down, going from the English Premier League to the Scottish Premiership.

“I needed to get game time. I feel Celtic have brought my confidence back. I’m scoring goals and I’m really happy.

“I expected to do well. I came up here to help the team to create chances and score goals to help them win games.

“So, I’m not surprised. I know the quality I have and I think the manager knows that as well. So, with his belief and trust in me and the help of the coaches too I feel I am bringing what I can to the team.

“I’ve scored seven goals so far and I’m happy with that but I feel I could have scored even more.”