Why Celtic have a bigger problem than Tounekti in forgotten star

Celtic continued their perfect start to the Scottish Premiership campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 win away at St. Johnstone on Wednesday night.

Mika Baur’s first goal for the club in the second half of the match secured all three points after Haissem Hassan brilliantly beat his man before putting the ball on a plate for the German midfielder.

REUTERS/Russell Cheyne

Unfortunately, not all of Martin O’Neill‘s attacking options have been as productive as the likes of Hassan and Camilo Duran have been since their arrivals over the summer.

One of the players the Northern Irishman inherited when he took over from Wilfried Nancy was Tunisia international Sebastian Tounekti, who has struggled this season.

Sebastian Tounekti’s biggest problem at Celtic

The 24-year-old joined the Scottish giants from Hammarby for a fee of around £5.5m in the summer of 2025, adding to the club’s options on the left side of the attack.

Tounekti failed to step up to the plate in his first season in the Premiership, though, as he scored two goals and provided two assists in 27 appearances in the division.

Former Celtic captain Scott Brown, who knows a thing or two about setting the standards at Paradise, recently stated that the forward’s output is not good enough for what the Hoops need.

The frustrating thing, as Brown also explained, is that the Tunisian winger has the quality to be a terrific player for the Scottish giants, but his biggest problem is his decision-making in the final third.

He has more completed dribbles than shots or key passes in the league so far this season, which shows that his priorities are in the wrong actions.

Tounekti needs to focus on providing a quality final action, with a pass, cross, or shot, instead of taking up so much of his focus and energy on dribbling past defenders multiple times before making a decision in the final third.

Celtic have an even bigger problem than Sebastian Tounekti

If O’Neill can work with the former Hammarby star to improve his mentality and decision-making with the ball, he could develop into a valuable asset for Celtic moving forward.

However, there is another player in the first-team squad who has struggled this season and looks like an even bigger problem for the manager to deal with than Tounekti.

Luke McCowan, who is in his third season at Paradise, was an unused substitute in the 3-0 win over Aberdeen before failing to make the matchday squads against St Mirren or St. Johnstone.

He has fallen so far down the pecking order at Parkhead that he has not started a single match in any competition in the 2026/27 campaign, despite featuring in seven matchday squads.

REUTERS/Leonhard Foeger

Tounekti is a young player who is still learning and developing his game, which is why more patience can be afforded to him, but McCowan is an experienced performer who appears to be on the decline.

After a strong first season at the club after his move from Dundee in 2024, the left-footed talent’s performances regressed going into the 2025/26 campaign.

McCowan proved to be a valuable addition at first, producing 16 goal contributions in the 2024/25 season, but he rarely contributed at the top end of the pitch last term.

In fact, his only goal in his last 32 appearances in the Premiership for the Hoops came in the 5-1 win over Kilmarnock in August, adding to the scoring whilst his side were already well ahead in the match.

Unlike Tounekti, McCowan is not a young player with potential and athleticism who requires guidance. He is an experienced player who appears to be past his peak and finished at Paradise, based on his form over the past 13 months or so.

That is a problem for O’Neill and Celtic because he still has two years left to run on his current contract at Parkhead, yet he is currently failing to make matchday squads when the other players in his position are available.

McCowan is an even bigger problem to deal with than Tounekti, therefore, because the club may have to find a way to offload his contract in the January transfer window, whilst there is still time to make the Tunisia international a valuable member of the squad moving forward.