Football Insider has claimed Celtic have made contact with Southampton about their price for Mohamed Elyounoussi. I’d take any report with a pinch of salt.
Right now, in the thick of the season, it’s very unlikely Celtic have reached out to talk about a player who hasn’t even played a full half season yet. Yes, Mohamed has hit the ground running but not so much that Celtic would look to blow any negotiating position they may want to have in the future by looking desperate to land the midfielder.
The website claims Celtic have been told it would cost £10m to bag Elyounoussi, which also doesn’t seem correct from where we’re sitting.
Let’s say Celtic did ask, for arguments sake – what Premier League club is going to take that request on board and happily concede they’d take less for Mohamed than they actually signed the player for which according to the BBC is around £16m.
If there was any talk of fees, this would have come up in loan negotiations before bringing the player into the club.
What are the facts of the transfer?
- We have him on loan for the season.
- There’s no January get out clause.
- There’s no formal fee in place to sign the player permanently.
Another point on this would be Mohamed’s Southampton wage packet, which before bonuses, is a whopping £60kpw according to Sportrac. There’s no way Celtic have had talks with the player about wages, to then go to Southampton and ask a fee so soon.
We have been an advocate of Celtic fans not getting overly obsessed with Mohame’s future and focus on the present. The loan deal shows the kind of savvy Celtic should continue to use going forward in order to bolster their squad on a season by season basis.
