The winger still keeps up to date with all things Celtic as he continues his career in Scandinavia.
Mo Elyounoussi hasn’t been surprised to see James Forrest’s Celtic career spark back into life under Brendan Rodgers.
The attacker was a key player for the manager the first time around and is now making an impact at the second time of asking, after being left more on the fringes under former gaffer Ange Postecoglou. Rodgers knows what makes Forrest tick and has got him back firing, since he went back to begin his second stint in the Celtic Park hotseat in the summer.
Forrest has also gone on to continue his amazing record of having scored in all of Celtic’s last 15 seasons. Elyounoussi reckons it is a credit to one of Celtic’s most decorated stars, the way he looks after himself and doesn’t look anywhere near his age. He said: “It’s amazing he’s 32 now – I wish I had those genes! What a lad. He’s such a good guy, he’s very humble and it’s great to see he’s still going strong. I hope they will have a successful season ahead. I heard he’s scored in 15 seasons in a row. That is incredible and I don’t know if I will achieve that.
“I have children and he doesn’t have any yet – so that’s a big minus for me! I have two under four so I have grey hair now. He’s such a top professional I am not surprised he is continuing to do it.
“The only surprise is when people tell me his age – because he still looks so young! I still follow Celtic and it’s great to see them doing so well. I hope they have another successful season ahead.”
Elyounoussi had two consecutive loan spells at Celtic when he was at Southampton and won a treble in 2019-20. There was speculation he could have returned to Parkhead in the summer but instead he made the move to Copenhagen. Elyounoussi has fond memories from Glasgow and plans to come back and take in a Celtic game.
“I was only at the club for two years but I still felt like a long time because I enjoyed it,” said the 29-year-old. “I only had six months with fans and the rest was without.
“That was something I really missed and it was something I was looking forward to, as that is why I stayed longer. I have good memories on and off the pitch. They are good lads. I said to my wife it would be nice to come back and go to a game, see where we lived and just remember the good times.”
He still maintains active links with Celtic. Elyounoussi remains in touch with Callum McGregor, Greg Taylor and Forrest, still watches their games and is also in contact with a number of fans.
Elyounoussi, who scored Norway’s weekend equaliser at Hampden in the 3-3 draw with Scotland, joked: “As soon as we landed it felt like being back in the old days – especially with the rain as well!
“I thought, ‘Glasgow hasn’t changed too much!’ We also stayed in the same hotel we did with Celtic, so there were a lot of good memories coming back.
“I still stay in touch with some of the boys. There are a few still there from my time, like Callum, Jamesie and Greg. I talked to them after the game and I still watch Celtic games.
“Even some fans are still in touch with me and that is nice. It was great to see such nice lads. Obviously we shared many great memories together.”
Elyounoussi’s goal ensured Norway signed off their qualifying campaign with a point. It stopped the Euro 2024-bound Scots from getting the final win before Steve Clarke and his players took their Hampden bow. The Norwegian said: “Did we spoil the party? I think the party was going on anyway!
“It’s always nice to be at Hampden Park again, I have nice memories of there and of course it’s always nice to score. It was meant to be the big final for us but it didn’t work out that way. For us, it was about going out and showing we should have been in the Euros.
“We were obviously missing some big players but we have enough quality to score goals. It was a good performance. Overall, Scotland deserved to go through. They beat Spain here so we knew it was a tough challenge and the atmosphere was really good. It was a good away game for us.”
The attacker knows that Scotland’s stunning comeback win in Oslo was probably the key game in the group. Late Lyndon Dykes and Kenny McLean goals gave the Scots a famous win and Norway were never really able to recover.
Elyounoussi said: “The defeat to Scotland in Oslo was the turning point for us – probably for Scotland as well. We shouldn’t be conceding two goals in three minutes. It’s history now so we have to look ahead to the challenges in front and try to get better as a team.”
There are no sour grapes on Elyounoussi’s behalf. So much so that he will be supporting Scotland in the finals and cheering on all his old Celtic and Southampton team-mates, including Ryan Christie and Stuart Armstrong.
“They totally deserve to be there,” he said. Myself and Kris Ajer knew there would be a good atmosphere and we told the boys before the game. You heard it with the national anthem and through the game. I just wish Scotland all the best.
“I am going to cheer for them because I know so many of the players, with Stuart Armstrong and Ryan Christie as well. They deserve to be there.”
