Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis has hit out at AEK Athens after his failed spell in Greece between 2017 and 2020.
Giakoumakis got his big break when he joined Athens 5 years ago. However, he would only score 3 goals in 48 appearances overall with just 9 of those games coming in the starting XI [Transfermarkt].
It was his first spell at a big club, but only 19 months later he was shipped out to OFI Crete on loan. Another loan spell with Polish outfit Gornik Zabrze came and went before Giakoumakis finally got out of Greece permanently and went to VVV-Venlo in the Netherlands.
Nowadays, he’s preparing for UEFA Champions League football after winning the league with Celtic. And as he reflected on his spell with AEK in an interview with Greek outlet Novasports, Giakoumakis said: “In Greece, I was to the point of doubting myself until the last season I played for AEK Athens. I was thinking that maybe I wasn’t good. It was a difficult four years, I went through difficult situations.
“I had told my agent and friend, Yannis Emmanouilidis, to take me to OFI, the team I love, in my homeland Crete, at least to enjoy football. I no longer cared about making a career. He was the only one telling me to calm down and that he believed in me and that I could go abroad. He played a catalytic role in my career. In Greece, you need to have a lot of patience
“I have improved a lot since I was at AEK. What cost me in AEK is that I went there from a small club. I didn’t cost them anything and if I hadn’t come out I would have been a third (choice) centre forward. The thing is, there was no plan with me. Everything went on automatic. I was trying to be myself, but I was not getting the opportunities I should have gotten. If you’re not ready, the team has to get you ready.”
Giorgos Giakoumakis unimpressed with how AEK Athens dealt with him
Evidently, his time in Athens is something that still frustrates him. It’s difficult to analyse this fairly without seeing Giakoumakis at the time, but he certainly wasn’t given much in the way of starts.
Indeed, he was on the bench for both of the UEFA Champions League qualifying legs against Celtic when AEK put us out 3-2 on aggregate. He would go on to feature in several cameo roles for the Greek champions, but that was generally what he had to settle for.
Earlier this year, former Greek Super League player Tassos Venetis slammed Athens for how they treated Giakoumakis. He stated that they didn’t do enough to help the player adapt to being at a big club [Daily Record]. Something the player himself evidently feels too.
All we can go on is how he’s been performing at Celtic. And it’s fair to say that this season he’s shown himself to be more than strong enough mentally. His recovery from a struggling first half of the campaign said a lot about his strength of character.
It’s not as if he just had a productive second half of the campaign either. Giorgos was one of the real superstars and ended the season as the joint top scorer in the Premiership.
He’ll finally get his shot at UEFA Champions League football next season. Unlike at AEK Athens, you can’t see it being in a bit-part capacity either.
In other news, “I’m having fun here”; Liel Abada discusses Celtic future with Israeli media
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