ONE man’s trash is another man’s treasure, so they say, and Mohamed Elyounoussi is hoping that both he and Fraser Forster can bear that out during their loan stints at Celtic from the wilderness of the Southampton fringes.
Certainly, Elyounoussi is certain that Forster will show his worth yet again for Celtic, if he hasn’t already, with the winger still rating the former England number one as the best goalkeeper on Southampton’s books.
For now though, he is just happy that he is still a teammate of Forster in Glasgow, a man who he describes as invaluable not only for his contributions on the pitch, but for his contributions to morale in his role as dressing room clown.
“Fraser is a really good guy,” Elyounoussi said. “We were in the same dressing room, and I talked to him a lot. In the end, we were in the same situation.
“He also took care of me when I came here to Celtic. We were both staying in the hotel and he drove me to the training ground.
“Obviously if you go from that situation to playing you will feel better. But he’s still the same guy. He was quite positive at Southampton.
“I would say he was kind of a clown, he talked a lot and made a few jokes. He’s still the same guy here.
“Fraser is a quality keeper. I lost count of the number of times we were the last ones after training, me doing shooting and him in goals. I know how good he is.
“I think he was the best one [goalkeeper] at Southampton. He’s amazing at his best. Hopefully for his sake, he can get that positive energy back and get back where he was.
“Everyone feels strange if they don’t play. Everyone thinks they’re good enough to play. But in the end, it’s up to the manager, and there’s nothing you can do.
“I had it myself last year. I thought I good enough to play, but this is how it is. Football can be tough sometimes. Now both of us are at a good club where we can play, express ourselves and help the team win games.
“It’s good for me to have someone I know here, and I’ve obviously got [Norway teammate] Kristoffer Ajer as well.
“Everyone has been good to me, the atmosphere is really good and positive, there’s a lot of confidence in the team.”
There is also more confidence creeping into Elyounoussi’s play as he inches ever closer to full sharpness, with the last European night at Celtic Park against Cluj – when he notched his first goal for the club - giving fans a real glimpse of what the winger can bring to the party.
“I try to play my best in every game and help the team,” he said. “I like to create chances or score myself and to get a goal that night was special.
“It was a great moment for me, it had been a while since I scored. It was amazing to score in front of 60,000 people. You would struggle to find a better atmosphere than the one you find at Celtic Park on a European night.
“We have to use that against teams. It is tough to play against Celtic, I know that from personal experience. We need to try and use the fans against Lazio.”
That goal capped off a night to remember for Elyounoussi against the Romanians, but there is another detail he would do well to file away in his memory bank – don’t blank the manager.
Neil Lennon joked afterwards that he thought Elyounoussi was making a beeline to celebrate with him after he hit the net, only for his player to run straight past him and into the dugout.
“That wasn’t the plan,” Elyounoussi said with a smile. “I talked with Moritz Bauer before the game, and he said, ‘if you score, come looking for me.’ I remembered that when I scored, so that’s why I ran to him and not the manager.
“I’ll remember for next time!”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules here