Celtic have been tipped to sign £16 million star permanently

Celtic have been tipped to sign the £16 million star on a permanent basis in what will surely be a major coup for the club if they manage to pull it off.

It is no secret that Celtic have endured a less than impressive start to their season. Having just won two of their last seven games, the Hoops find themselves chasing the Rangers in the Premiership and are already on the brink of elimination from the Europa League group stage. As a result, it goes without saying that they need to find their feet soon or Neil Lennon might be shown the exit door fast.

One man who has managed to shine through all this though is Mohamed Elyounoussi. The Norwegian moved to Celtic on loan from Southampton last season. While he struggled with injuries, he managed to show the club enough to sign him on another season-long loan. And that move is starting to look like an inspired one.

He has been the club’s best player by far this season, scoring 10 goals and providing 4 assists in 18 appearances. And now, he is being tipped to be signed on a permanent basis by the Hoops.

Speaking with Football Insider, Danny Mills said:

"“I can see that deal getting done with a permanent move. That would work for Celtic, that works for the player and it works for Southampton.”"

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Elyounoussi signed with Southampton a couple of years ago for a fee reported to be around £16 million. But he failed to find his feet in the Premier League. In 19 appearances, he failed to score a single goal or provide an assist. And as a result, they were happy enough to let him leave on loan to Celtic.

Scottish football has not clearly proven as hard for the Norwegian international though. He was out of the team for a while when Lennon was deploying the 3-5-2 but considering how good he has been recently, it is going to be some time before he finds himself on the bench again.

Now, the big question is obviously how much Southampton want for Elyounoussi. There is no way that the Hoops are going to match the £16 million that the Premier League side paid for him originally. But if the asking price is indeed in the £7-9 million range as was reported last year, he could surely be worth it.