Winger to decide Future after season
MOHAMED Elyounoussi will not make a call on his longterm future until the end of the season.
The Celtic forward, with 17 goals this term, has been second only to Odsonne Edouard in terms of his attacking potency for the club, and there has been a growing appreciation of what he has brought across t wo loan spells.
With a substantial rebuilding project expected to take place this summer as the club bring in a new manager and various personnel, it remains to be seen if there is a significant push to keep the Norwegian internationalist on a permanent deal. Parent club Southampton signed the player on a £ 16 million deal from Basel in 2018 but the player has made just 19 appearances for the English side.
“I will give you my honest answer on that. I haven’t thought much about what my future is going to be,” said the 26- year- old. “We still have a few games left to play this season and my main focus is here on Celtic.
“I want to do my best for the club and then after the season ends, I will have a think about what I’m going to do and what is best for my own career.”
Certainly, interim manager John Kennedy would be keen for the club to keep hold of the player. It remains to be seen what role, if any, Kennedy might have beyond the end of the season but he would be happy to endorse Elyounoussi to any new manager.
“I think he’s the calibre of player you want to try to attract to your club,” said Kennedy. “Knowing the quality he’s got and when you’ve worked with a player you get to see them up close and what you really like.
“His character and his levels in terms of training, he’s first class in everything he does. He’s one of the best professionals I’ve worked with. He really looks after his body, he commits to training and
every drill you do each day. When he’s on form he’s a very good player. We’ll have to address that in the summer if it’s a possibility – and if it is a possibility I’m pretty sure the club will look closely at that.”
There is more weight attached to today’s game against Rangers than just the cup. A Celtic win would deny Rangers the chance of a domestic double but would also enable them to halt their rivals’ dominance domestically and set them up for next season as they seek to recover from the trauma of this campaign.
“Both myself and the team are going into this game with a high degree of confidence, especially after the last game against Livingston,” said Elyounoussi. “We have been working hard and the training this week has been superb.
“You could see a result like the one we had at Livingston was coming, you could see it over the last few games. You could see it during the training sessions we had and the only thing which was missing was taking our chances in front of goal.
“We need to try and maintain that on Sunday. We need to create the chances and be ruthless. We also need to stop them from having chances against us. It’s all about what’s going to happen in the t wo boxes. boxes.”