Mohamed Elyounoussi

Mohamed Elyounoussi (Norwegian pronunciation: [ˈmùːɪ]; born 4 August 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Celtic, on loan from Southampton. He represents Norway at senior international level.

Mohamed Elyounoussi
Elyounoussi with Basel in 2017
Personal information
Full name Mohamed Elyounoussi[1]
Date of birth (1994-08-04) 4 August 1994
Place of birth Al Hoceima, Morocco
Height 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position(s) Forward / Winger
Club information
Current team
 Celtic
(on loan from Southampton)
Number 27
Youth career
Sarpsborg FK
Sarpsborg 08
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2014 Sarpsborg 08 64 (15)
2014–2016 Molde 70 (30)
2016–2018 Basel 66 (22)
2018– Southampton 16 (0)
2019– → Celtic (loan) 10 (4)
National team‡
2011 Norway U17 4 (0)
2012 Norway U18 4 (0)
2012 Norway U19 1 (0)
2013–2016 Norway U21 19 (5)
2014– Norway 24 (5)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 15 December 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17 March 2020

Early life

Elyounoussi was born in Al Hoceima, Morocco. He grew up in Sarpsborg, Norway, where he also started his football career.

Club career

Sarpsborg 08

He made his debut in Tippeligaen when he came on as a sub in Sarpsborg 08's match against Odd Grenland on 8 May 2011.

Molde

On 15 March 2014, Elyounoussi moved to fellow Tippeligaen side Molde FK.[2] During his first season with Molde FK he played in every league match and was the club's top scorer with 13 goals.[3] With the club, Elyounoussi won both Tippeligaen and the Norwegian Cup in his first season, which meant that Molde won the double for the first time in the club's history. He scored four goals in the 2014 Norwegian Cup, of which one was scored in the final against Odd. Elyounoussi scored a total of 17 goals in all competitions in the 2014 season and became Molde's top goalscorer.

In 2015, Elyounoussi scored three goals in the 2015–16 UEFA Europa League, all in the group stage. He scored twice against Celtic[4][5] and once against Fenerbahçe [6] and helped the team advance to the Round of 16 where they lost 1–3 on aggregate against Sevilla.

Basel

On 6 July 2016, Elyounoussi moved to Swiss Super League side FC Basel on a four-year contract.[7] He made his first team league debut on 24 July in the 3–0 home win against Sion.[8] He scored his first goal for his new club just one week later on 31 July during the away game against Vaduz. It was the third Basler goal of the game and they won 5–1.[9] Elyounoussi scored a hat trick for Basel on 4 February 2017 during the home game against Lugano. These were the first three goals and were scored during the first 36 minutes of the game that Basel won 4–0.[10] Under trainer Urs Fischer, Elyounoussi won the Swiss Super League championship at the end of the 2016–17 season. For the club this was the eighth title in a row and their 20th championship title in total.[11] They also won the Swiss Cup for the twelfth time, which meant they had won the double for the sixth time in the club's history.[12]

Southampton

On 29 June 2018, Elyounoussi was signed by Southampton for a reported fee of £16 million,[13] signing a five-year contract.[14]

Celtic (loan)

On 30 August 2019, Elyounoussi joined Celtic on loan until the end of the season.[15]

International career

In June 2011, Elyounoussi was called up for the Norway U-17 team.[16]

In November 2013, he was called up to the senior Norwegian national team for their January 2014 international matches in Abu Dhabi.[17] He made his debut there against Poland on 18 January 2014, replacing Erik Huseklepp in the 33rd minute of a 3–0 defeat.[18] He scored his first goal for Norway on 13 June 2017 against Sweden. He scored his first hat-trick for Norway on 5 October 2017 against San Marino.

International goals
Scores and results list Norway's goal tally first.[19]
#DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.13 June 2017Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Sweden1–01–1Friendly
2.5 October 2017San Marino Stadium, Serravalle San Marino4–08–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification
3.5–0
4.7–0
5.16 October 2018Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo Bulgaria1–01–02018–19 UEFA Nations League C

Personal life

Elyounoussi is of Moroccan descent, his family immigrated to Norway when he was a child. He was thus eligible to play for the Moroccan national football team but opted for Norway. He is the cousin of Tarik Elyounoussi, who is also a Norwegian international footballer who plays for Japanese side Shonan Bellmare.

Elyounoussi's father owns a pizza parlour in Norway.[20]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 7 March 2019[21][22]
Club Season Division League National Cup League Cup Europe Total
AppsGoals Apps GoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sarpsborg 08 2011 Tippeligaen 90 1 0——100
2012 1. divisjon 269 3 1—2910
2013 Tippeligaen 296 1 0—306
Sarpsborg 08 Total 6415 5 1— — 006916
Molde 2014 Tippeligaen 3013 4 4—303717
2015 2812 1 01274119
2016 125 1 120156
Molde Total 7030 6 5— —1779342
Basel 2016–17 Swiss Super League 3210 5 0—303910
2017–18 3412 3 0824514
Basel Total 6622 8 0701128424
Southampton 2018–19[23] Premier League 160 2 010—190
Southampton Total 160 2 01000190
Celtic (loan) 2019–20[24] Scottish Premiership 104 1 03261207
Celtic Total 104 1 03261207
Career total 22669 22 62483241028587

    International
    As of 17 March 2020[25]
    National teamYearAppsGoals
    Norway
    201420
    201530
    201600
    201794
    201881
    201920
    Total245

    Honours

    Molde

    Basel

    Celtic

    Individual

    References
    1. "2018/19 Premier League squads confirmed". Premier League. 3 September 2018. Retrieved 4 September 2018.
    2. "Selger Elyounoussi til tippeligarival". Nettavisen (in Norwegian). 15 March 2014. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
    3. "Toppscorern". Molde FK (in Norwegian). 9 December 2014. Archived from the original on 22 January 2015. Retrieved 20 January 2015.
    4. "Molde 3-1 Celtic Match Report". www.uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
    5. "Celtic 1-2 Molde Match Report". www.uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
    6. "Fenerbache 1-3 Molde Match Report". www.uefa.com. UEFA. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
    7. "Mohamed Elyounoussi wechselt zum FCB". fcb.ch (in German). FC Basel. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 6 July 2016.
    8. Marti, Caspar (2016). "3:0 gegen Sion – Der FCB war beim Auftact parat". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 24 July 2016.
    9. Marti, Caspar (2016). "Klarer Sieg beim FC Vaduz". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 31 July 2016.
    10. Marti, Caspar (2017). "Elyounoussi hattrick beim 4:0 gegen Lugano". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 4 February 2017.
    11. Marti, Casper (2017). "Der Saisonabschluss im Zeitraffer". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 2 June 2017.
    12. "Swiss football: FC Basel wins 3-0 over Sion in Geneva; police extra vigilant after game". allaboutgeneva.com. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
    13. "Mohamed Elyounoussi signs for Southampton from Basel for reported £16m". BBC Sport. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
    14. "Saints sign Elyounoussi". Southampton FC. 29 June 2018. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
    15. Winton, Richard; Lewis, Jane (30 August 2019). "Mohamed Elyounoussi: Celtic sign Southampton's Norway winger". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 August 2019.
    16. "Mohamed Elyounoussi på G17-landslaget". sa.no (in Norwegian). Sarpsborg Arbeiderblad. 28 June 2011. Retrieved 13 February 2012.
    17. "HERRELANDSLAGETS TROPP TIL JANUAR-KAMPER" (in Norwegian). fotball.no. Archived from the original on 6 December 2013. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
    18. "18.01.2014 Norway v Poland". eu-football.info. Retrieved 14 April 2014.
    19. "M. Elyounoussi". Soccerway. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
    20. Heneage, Kristan (24 March 2016). "Mohamed Elyounoussi: The pizza-loving forward Leicester are eyeing as Mahrez's replacement". FourFourTwo. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
    21. "Mohamed Elyounoussi". nifs.no (in Norwegian). A-pressen. Retrieved 10 December 2016.
    22. Mohamed Elyounoussi at Soccerway. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
    23. "Games played by Mohamed Elyounoussi in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 August 2018.
    24. "Games played by Mohamed Elyounoussi in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 November 2019.
    25. "Mohamed Elyounoussi". eu-football.info (in Norwegian). EU Football. Retrieved 11 September 2018.
    26. "Swiss football: FC Basel wins 3-0 over Sion in Geneva; police extra vigilant after game". allaboutgeneva.com. 25 May 2017. Archived from the original on 17 May 2019. Retrieved 25 May 2017.
    27. "Celtic champions & Hearts relegated after SPFL ends season". BBC Sport. 18 May 2020. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
    28. "Rangers 0 – 1 Celtic". BBC Sport. 8 December 2019. Retrieved 8 December 2019.
    29. "Mohamed Elyounoussi: Premiership Player of the Month for October". Celtic FC. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
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