Southampton boss addresses possible Moi Elyounoussi recall | OneFootball

Southampton manager Ralph Hasenhüttl has addressed speculation that Moi Elyounoussi may be recalled from loan at Celtic owing to the injuries in the Saints squad. Nathan Redmond, Moussa Djenepo, Nathan Tella and Will Smallbone are all sidelined and Hampshire Live asked the Austrian boss if he would be recalling the Norwegian from his second season long loan with The Scottish Champions.

However, Hasenhuttl said that he would not be looking to bring Celtic’s top scorer back when directly asked if recalling the former Basel winger was an option to contend with the injury issues.

“Maybe if we had more long-term injuries, we have two at the moment with Michael Obafemi and Will Smallbone, but the rest could be back quickly, so it doesn’t make sense to bring anybody back.”

Hasenhuttl suggested that the predicament that he finds himself in may force a rethink of the club’s loan strategy going forward.

“We must be very careful who we send on loan again because it is a special situation and you could have a few Covid cases and then you need everyone in the squad.”

Celtic may look to make Elyounoussi’s stay in Glasgow permanent in the summer as he appears to be out of the plans with the Premier League side. Elyounoussi has scored 15 goals this season but it hasn’t been enough to  prevent Celtic being 20 points behind Rangers, albeit with two games in hand. The lack of goals this season has been a factor in the poor table showing.