Over the years, we have seen many loan players make a move to Celtic Park to gain more experience whilst also providing them with the chance to win trophies.
On occasions, those loan players become fans favourites, with supports becoming extremely disappointing at seeing them exit the club.
One of the more recent examples of that was Southampton winger Mohamed Elyounoussi.
Although he might have spilt opinions with some sections of the Celtic support, his numbers certainly don’t lie from his spells with the Hoops – scoring 24 and assisting 14 in 67 appearances for the club.
Now the winger finds himself part of Ralph Hassenhutl’s first-team squad with the Saints, featuring nine times in the English Premier League so far this season.
Elyounoussi believes he has his loan spell and Celtic to thank as part of his success this campaign, learning a lot from his two seasons with the club between 2019-2021.
“I had to adapt to that in the Premier League, and I think the best way was when I didn’t play much here, to go to the Scottish league and to Celtic,” he said, as quoted by the Daily Record.
“I had to adapt to the physical part of the game. I think I did that quite well at Celtic, I played a lot of games as a striker against big, tall defenders, so I had to hold the ball.
“That was something I wasn’t used to, but I learned how to do it. At some point in my time there, I was a target man, playing up to me! Even on the corners, I was the main man, the main target.
“It shows I have developed that part of the game from my side, especially all the European games have been really good for me – playing against all the bigger clubs in Europe especially for the confidence. It’s all about confidence.
“Even though when I was in Basel, we played in the Champions League, and we played against good teams, there wasn’t a lot of challenges where you have to go into 50-50 duels.
“Now I feel like I’m more comfortable going in, much more comfortable to shield the ball. It was new to me; I had to adapt to that.
“In general, it was a really good experience to go to Celtic. A huge club, amazing fans, and I tried to find myself back to where I was before I came to Southampton.
“I have grown as a player and as a human being, being there over the two years.
“I have learned a lot about myself, had family and friends around me being very supportive and helpful. It has been a good experience for me.
“The Premier League is the best league in the world, but I would say from a physical point of view, it’s (the Scottish Premiership) a lot similar.”
His time at the club came to a disappointing end after the season we had last year. However, it was clear to see the quality that Elyounoussi possessed during his time in Glasgow.
It is always nice to see former players doing well down south, especially when they still have good things to say about the club, as Moi has done since leaving.
Hopefully, he can keep that up and continue to show why a loan spell at Celtic can be valuable to players careers – just as we are seeing for players such as Jota this season.
