Sporting director talks up Giorgos Giakoumakis impact at Celtic; more to come

By John McGinley

May 26, 2022

Greek national team sporting director Takis Fyssas has been talking up the impact of Giorgos Giakoumakis on Celtic and reckons even more is to come.

Fyssas, who made over 50 appearances for Hearts, has obviously been keeping close tabs on Giakoumakis’ career over the last few seasons.

The Celtic striker made the decision to pursue a career beyond Greek shores after a difficult spell at AEK Athens and it’s paying off.

Not only did he finish Eredivisie top scorer in 2020/21, but nobody scored more Scottish Premiership goals than him last season either, on the way to a double trophy win.

Fyssas is impressed, but thinks Giakoumakis is only just getting started, telling The Times: “Of course we are keeping a close eye on Giorgos and we have seen him doing well this season. We have been really pleased with him.

“At the start of the season he had a few problems on and off the park and he wasn’t in a healthy situation. But he managed to get over that and put it behind him and then he started playing and scoring.

“It was his first season and to finish as top scorer in Scotland, a year after being the top scorer in Holland, is a great achievement. When I heard Celtic were interested in him and he wanted to move there I spoke to him about Scottish football.

“I told him that the Scottish league would be perfect for him. He’s strong, he’s clever, he scores goals, he works for the team and he had the right experience to do well. But I think he can do even better next season with Celtic. For Greek football we need guys like him to be playing well in a good league.”

Giorgos Giakoumakis is primed to push on at Celtic

It’s easy to see why the former Benfica player comes to that conclusion.

Giakoumakis, with the benefit of a full pre-season without injury or issues settling in Scotland, should naturally improve on what he managed last term.

Fingers crossed, he’ll be available for the full campaign for starters. Having him ready for the heavy schedule between July and the World Cup will be crucial.

Kyogo Furuhashi can’t and won’t play all of the games and Giakoumakis will get plenty of minutes.

You get the sense the Greek international will undoubtedly find his way to goal on a regular basis, that’s what he does. He’s going to play another crucial role as the Ange Postecoglou era continues.

In other news, The remarkable fact about Celtic hero Henrik Larsson and Jose Mourinho.