During March’s international break, Mohamed Elyounoussi expressed his desire for a ‘longer’ stay at Southampton, while also revealing there had been no renewal talks with the Premier League side.
The attacking midfielder has a year left on his contract. After spending two years on loan at Celtic, he was included in Ralph Hasenhüttl’s plans last season. He repaid his manager’s faith by scoring eight goals and registering four assists from 33 matches.
With just over 12 months left on the Norway international’s current deal, TV2 explain he is facing a ‘very important summer’ of his career. The player will turn 28 in August and the next contract is likely to be the ‘most important deal’ of his career.
The Saints have ‘signalled’ to Elyounoussi they want to extend his contract and this has also been confirmed by the player himself.
“We are in a dialogue. We’ve been talking for a while. It’s just been the initial phase, you might say. I’ve always said I enjoy it at Southampton, it’s a fantastic club. My family enjoys it. We’ll see what we land on. I don’t have the whole picture yet,” he told TV2.
The Norwegian’s camp are ‘not in a hurry’ to commit his future to Southampton since he’s received ‘concrete interest’ from several clubs, including from the top five leagues and MLS. TV2 add Elyounoussi is ‘open about the fact that it is not just Southampton that is relevant’.
“We work with several things at the same time. You can call my agent. He’s hard to get hold of right now. He is traveling around a bit,” the winger explained.
Elyounoussi’s representative, Ferhat Cifci, also gave insight into negotiations with the Premier League side over his client’s renewal.
“We have a good dialogue with Southampton. Of course, they want to extend his contract. The ball is round and anything can happen in football,” Cifci added.
TV2 mention Leicester City have ‘hinted at a possible interest’ in the Norwegian but it is not concrete yet.
While Southampton are in talks to extend Elyounoussi’s deal, the player continues to draw interest from elsewhere. The attacker, however, has his immediate focus elsewhere.
“Right now, there has been a full focus on the national team. I’ve said I don’t want to be involved much right now. I can do that next week when we’re done here. We’ll see what it ends up with,” the Saints man concluded.
