Moi Elyounoussi has admitted that he has an uncertain future ahead of him and although it could be at Celtic he has admitted that he is not ruling out staying at St Mary's and fighting for his place.

There were great hopes for Moi Elyounoussi when he sigend for Saints back in the summer of 2018 for £16 million, but he struggled under Mark Hughes and just couldn't seem to get going under Ralph Hasenhuttl and with Saints needing to get wages off the books and Sofiane Boufal giving a brief glimpse of what he can do in pre season, Boufal stayed and Elyounoussi was off to Scotland.

Initially he did very well there but in the winter he struggled with injury and just as he was getting fit again and back to form came the suspension of football.

But now the situation has changed at St Mary's in terms of who the club would like to get rid of, Boufal is now entering the last year of his contract meaning that Saints will be keen to get some sort of return on his transfer fee and of course his wages off the books.

Add to that the fact that Boufal's season was pretty much like his first two years at the club, occasional glimpses of brilliance but in the main plenty of skill and trickery but no end product.

Elyounoussi has found his confidence at Celtic after having had it ground down under Mark Hughes and he has three years left on his deal, but while Saints might prefer to get him off the books now on a permanent deal, they know from experience that will be hard to do because of his wages.

So the most likely scenario is that they will get Boufal off the books hopefully for a reasonable fee and Elyounoussi may get a second chance at St Mary's if he can impress in what pre season can be fitted in.

Certainly it is an option he would welcome as he confirmed speaking to the Scottish Sun:

"I still have three years left of the contract with Southampton.

"I want to show a better side of myself than what I have done. I hope I can go back and fight for a place next season.

"But at the same time, I really want to finish the season at Celtic and win the league."

"I've had injuries but it's been a very nice time in Celtic, especially after how things were going in Southampton.

"It's a very strange situation. The plan was a holiday in late May before I meet for pre-season with Southampton.

"But now I don't quite know what will happen."

The problem for Elyounoussi is that with Scotland's Premier League announcing that the earliest date that players can return to training will be June 10th his loan spell will have ended by then and therefore it is unsure whether he will be able to extend his loan deal to finish the season in Scotland.

But if he could the dilemma is that would almost certainly mean he would not get much if any time pre season with Saints and that would mean tat he would have no chance to show Ralph Hasenhuttl he is worth keeping at the club next season rather than loaning out.

Also can he take the risk of an injury that could keep him out next season for the sake of a few games and indeed from that perspective would Saints be willing to let him do that anyway and refuse to extend the loan.

It will be interesting to see what happens, Saints will be looking to get a few players off the books and with another year gone on their contracts that will be easier to do that a year ago.

Photo: Action Images

PatfromPoole added 09:45 - Apr 21 Now this is a bloke who should be furloughed. Though asking the State to pay 80% of his wages would be sacrilege.
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Peterx added 20:16 - Apr 21 Kind of agree with the article, cash in on Boufal and give Eynoussi another chance. He would be competing with Redmond, Armstrong and Djenepo though so would need some good form or injuries to improve from 4th choice. I also would not mind seeing Adams more in the left sided no 10 role if he can't displace Ings, Long, Obafemi up front, as he has shown he has an assist in him, so maybe the answer is to cash in on both Boufal and Elynoussi.

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underweststand added 16:40 - Apr 24 Elyounoussi 's Celtic form showed some of the reason we bought him in the first place and clearly he is capable of being a game-changer, but he is one of many players who having succeeded in a certain role - in a different club formation - but look less than convincing when playing for Saints. Ralph is convinced that Redmond should play as a creative no.10,... but his best games have been as a rampaging left winger. Ché Adams displays have may been disappointing, but take a look at YOU TUBE clips of his earlier career where he collects the ball and runs from deep, fending off defenders along the way - before scoring some great goals. Although it took 93 minutes to score the 2nd. goal v. Aston Villa...Armstrong's goal was nice to see ....but Adams' assisting crossfield pass to him was absolutely BRILLIANT. Looking at our somewhat "lop-sided squad" I often ask myself.. what are Boufal , or JWP's best roles? Where should Redmond really play, and how do we get the best out of the likes of Elyounoussi and Adams?.

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A_Saint_in_Stoke added 19:41 - Apr 24 Boufal's goal against West Brom was amazing - unfortunately, can any team wait for that spark of brilliance that may come - once a season? Boufal's attitude and inconsistency lead me to lean toward keeping Elyounoussi - Granted we have only seen him shooting wide and giving the ball away on practically every occasion at St Mary's - a different story at Celtic though not only scoring but being a player who changes games!  Although I don't wish to knock Ralph's decision making  - but disagree with Ralph when he is convinced that Redmond should play as a creative no.10,... but his best games have been as a rampaging left-winger, even thinking back to the impressive winner he scored for Norwich against us a Carrow Road. I feel that Ralph has yet to discover his best team and how to fit the combination of Elyounoussi and others into a winning combination - let's hope he discovers it soon!

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