Club already regret letting player join Celtic on loan

It looks like Celtic made a shrewd move by signing the star on loan as his parent club might already be regretting letting him join the Hoops.

It’s been a busy transfer window for Celtic, lots of hard work, discussions and negotiation. It looks as though the club have been lucky by playing hard ball on one of the deals to get a star player in.

In this case the Saints seem disappointed that a player has marched out. Reports at Inside Futbol suggest that Southampton are perhaps regretting the early summer decision to let Mohammed Elyounoussi extend his loan at Celtic for another year.

Elyounoussi performed well overall at Celtic last year but injuries restricted his impact and perhaps that all fed into the decision. The Hoops had seen enough to want to have the player available for this season’s squad. And for an international goal scorer last transferred for £16 million, that’s no great surprise.

But perhaps Southampton back in June, while looking on at a not highly spectacular season for Elyounoussi, decided to let him return on loan to Celtic for another season. At that point of time, they were probably more concerned with the restart of the Premier League season.

More from Celtic FC News

• Celtic handed fresh injury doubt before Feyenoord game
• Celtic’s £40.7 million announcement should scare Rangers
• Brendan Rodgers makes superb claim about returning Celtic player
• BBC pundit makes sensational claim about Celtic hero Kyogo
• Kyogo Furuhashi sends clear message to Celtic doubters

Hindsight is wonderful as always, but the suggestion is that Southampton possibly regret that decision now. It may have been a bad time for them to decide and it looks like it was very sensible of Celtic to have played hard ball at that point. Seemingly the Hoops wanted an answer on the loan in June and applied the pressure on the Saints to agree there and then. Which they did.

Having revaluated their squad and players, Southampton seem to have identified a need for a left winger. They have filled that gap just as the transfer window was about to close. Theo Walcott returned to his former club earlier this week before the transfer window slammed shut. He’s a good player for sure, but perhaps Elyounoussi would offer more potential at this stage. And had he stayed at St Mary’s, the additional signing may not have been required needed at all on Deadline Day.

In the meantime, after a slightly mixed start this season, Elyounoussi has remained patient and got himself back into the goals for the Hoops. Everyone is keen to see an extended run of him and Ajeti rebuilding their successful Basel partnership and netting a few more goals between them.

Whether it’s luck or negotiating skills, it’s certainly looking good for the player in an exciting season with the Hoops. We’ll have to see how it plays out towards the end of the season re the loan.