NEIL LENNON was a busy man this summer. Celtic brought in no fewer than 11 players during the transfer window as the Parkhead manager went about reinvigorating his squad.
Much of Celtic's transfer strategy centred around strengthening the Scottish champions' defence, and rightly so. With Dedryck Boyata, Filip Benkovic, Kieran Tierney, Mikael Lustig and Emilio Izaguirre all leaving the club this summer, new faces - and lots of them - were required to bolster the Celtic backline.
At the other end of the pitch, though, another player was brought to Celtic Park in the final days of the transfer window. Mohamed Elyounoussi, the 25-year-old Norwegian winger, was secured on loan for the remainder of the season from Southampton as Lennon sought to secure more options in attack for his side.
It is certainly an intersting acquisition from Celtic, and one that could prove to be one of the smartest pieces of transfer business done in Scotland this summer. The left winger joined Southampton from Basel for a fee of around £16 million last year and while things are yet to click into place for the Norway internationalist at St Mary's, his track record suggests that Lennon has some player on his hands.
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Celtic fans might remember Elyounoussi from the club's Europa League campaign back in 2015; the winger scored both home and away for Molde as the Norwegian club recorded wins over Ronny Deila's side. The winger then joined Swiss club Basel and caught the eye of Southampton to the extent that they were happy to shell out £16 million for his services. Elyounoussi has struggled to replicate his form at the Premier League club - he failed to record a single goal or assist in 19 appearances during the 2018/19 campaign - and will be hoping that his stint in Glasgow can restart his career.
So, just how good is Elyounoussi? The graphic below details the winger's stats over the last four seasons, as well as the figures that he posted playing in Europe and at international level. The good news for Celtic fans is that, last season aside, Elyounoussi has consistently performed for his team, regardless of the level he is playing at.
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While Elyounoussi struggled to produce goals and assists for Southampton last term, the winger did post encouraging numbers in some departments. His dribbling success rate, for example, was the highest it has ever been and his 1.17 shot assists per 90 minutes is not too shabby at all.
Unsurprisingly, in previous campaigns at Molde and Basel Elyounoussi's figures are more impressive. His stints in Switzerland and Norway are probably more representative of how Celtic supporters can expect the left-winger to fare at Parkhead; after all, Switzerland (21) and Norway (20) are right behind Scotland (19) in UEFA's country coefficient table, so we can deduce that the standard of play is similar.
Elyounoussi consistently averaged a goal every three matches at Molde and Basel which is a fine return for a player who is essentially a winger. The number of progressive dribbles - runs where the player carries the ball at least 10 metres up the pitch - that the Norwegian has averaged over the last few seasons is equally impressive, as is Elyounoussi's average dribbling success rate over this four-year period.
The remarkable thing about Elyounoussi, however, is the level of consistency in his performances when he is asked to play at a higher level. The graph above details hows the winger has got on when he's played for his national side and in Europe for his respective clubs and his stats, for the most part, have remained consistent. The number of goals and assists Elyounoussi records at this level dips ever-so-slightly, but there are other areas where the winger's performances actually improve.
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This is very impressive on Elyuonoussi's part and makes for encouraging reading for Celtic fans. While some players struggle to translate their domestic form onto the European or international stage, Elyuonoussi manages to consistently produce at this level: something that could prove vital as Celtic aim for a place in the knockout stages of the Europa League.
Ultimately, Celtic will be getting a player in need of a confidence boost after a relatively unsuccessful spell in the Premier League last season but Elyounoussi's record suggests that there is plenty more to come from the Norwegian. Given the fantastic start to the season that Mikey Johnston has enjoyed, Elyuounoussi may not walk straight into the starting line-up at Celtic but if the winger can recapture the form that earned him a big-money move to Southampton in the first place then it will be hard for Lennon to overlook him. A goalscoring winger is a valuable asset for any team and if the Celtic boss can get the best out of Elyounoussi, the new signing could thrive at Parkhead this season.
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