Celtic fans have had lots of recent reasons to be thankful for Moi Elyounoussi recently.
Looking at his recent form and headlines created it seems that a glimpse at your mobile phone doesn’t do too much lasting harm with the Norwegian caught out by the BT Sport cameras late on in the defeat from Sparta Prague.
Despite some calls for him to be suspended, fined or dropped, or any combination of the three he was in the starting XI at Motherwell on Sunday- scoring a hat-trick as Celtic avoided the unthinkable.
The 26-year-old first came to the attention of Celtic supporters when he was in the Molde side that won home and away against Ronny Deila’s side in the 2015 Europa League.
Molde put Moi in the shop window onto Basel and Southampton with Morton defender Markus Fjortoft telling Daily Record readers about the impact that the young goal scoring winger made at Sarpsborg 08:
I first heard of Mo when he was coming through as a young player in the Norwegian league with Sarpsborg 08 and we were both the same age being born in 1994. He was making a big name for himself.
So I was interested in him and what he was doing as a teenager where the public saw him as one of the most exciting of a wave of young players emerging at that time.
We have the equivalent of Match of the Day on Norwegian TV and I remember watching it one Saturday night and it featured a Sarpsborg game and Mo went on one of his mazy runs down the touchline. He did eight or nine step-overs and that clip was played over and over again.
It resulted in a goal and created a buzz in the Norwegian league and that was the type of X Factor he brought to the league. This was an exciting talent. For Norwegian people he’s one of several players who have helped put our game on the map and that’s why there are so many people back home now following Celtic and seeing what Mo’s achieving.
Elyounoussi will be on international duty this week for Norway with Celtic fans crossing their fingers that he returns fit and well for the clash with Hibs on November 22 at Easter Road.
