Southampton lost £16m and will always have Celtic FC transfer envy | OneFootball

Norwegian winger Mohamed Elyounoussi never lived up to his 'exciting' potential at Saints

Southampton will always have £16m transfer envy with Celtic FC when it comes to a certain Norwegian attacker, namely Mohamed Elyounoussi.

Saints completed the then-23-year-old's signing from Basel on a five-year deal in June 2018 for a reported fee of £16m, and he arrived with a growing reputation which certainly excited Mark Hughes.

"Mohamed is clearly another very exciting addition to our attacking options," Hughes told the club's official website at the time.

Adding, "He has got an outstanding record of goals and assists in two different countries, and we have been extremely impressed by the intelligence he has shown in his play from a tactical point of view.

"He's still at a young age as well, so we're confident he can continue to improve and fulfill even more of his potential with us."

Yet what followed was very underwhelming to say the least, and Hughes didn't even last long enough to see how things might unfold.

Southampton's £16m transfer regret with Mohamed Elyounoussi

In his first season at Southampton, Elyounoussi managed just 16 Premier League appearances, eight of those being starts, contributing zero goals and zero assists.

The promise that had made him such an exciting proposition, i.e. the 'intelligence' Hughes had spoken of earlier, simply failed to happen in a Saints shirt.

Hughes was sacked in December 2018, having won just five of his 27 games in charge, with the club rooted in the relegation zone. By that point, Elyounoussi hadn't even been at the club for a full six months.

Rather than write off the player entirely, Southampton took the decision to loan him out to Celtic, initially for a single season.

In his first loan spell with the Bhoys during the 19/20 season, he made 10 Scottish Premiership appearances and helped Celtic to yet another title, adding six Europa League appearances to his belt.

During his second spell, Elyounoussi managed to score 17 goals and provide five assists across 46 games. Reports then emerged that Celtic were keen to make the deal permanent, as per Football Insider.

Southampton's apparent asking price of between £8 to £10 million proved too high a barrier, however, with the Glasgow giants reportedly unable to match that valuation and unwilling to pay the wages Elyounoussi was reportedly earning at Saints.

According to Capology estimates, his 18/19 wages at Southampton were £60k per week.

Mohamed Elyounoussi's 'biggest regret' wasn't with Southampton

In a 2025 interview with the Daily Record, Elyounoussi opened up about his two years at Celtic.

His biggest regret? Not winning Celtic's historic tenth consecutive Scottish title. "That was the biggest regret. Not winning the 10th in a row. Then you know you've been in the history books forever," he said.

As for Southampton, well they paid £16m for a player who delivered nine goals in 90 appearances. Yes, he showed enough glimpses at St Mary's to suggest the ability was there, but never consistently enough to justify his price-tag.

Take February 2022, for example, when Ralph Hasenhuttl, Hughes' successor, said Elyounoussi had been one of Southampton's stars of the season after his return from Celtic.

"He [Elyounoussi] is absolutely a winger of the season," Hasenhuttl claimed.

"He is one of the players who has taken his chance, has shown up. The way we are playing at the moment, I was very positive in the summer that this player can help us in the future.

"He has learned to compete against physical teams and has learned now the way we want to play. He has absolutely 100% the DNA that we need to have in this position.

"He is a smart, intelligent footballer who can score goals and who has also the workload we need in this position."

But the following season only saw Elyounoussi contribute to three goals in 38 matches. The Norwegian later ended up leaving alongside Theo Walcott on a free transfer when the duo's contracts expired.