As we entered the summer transfer windows ‘deadline day’ on 31 August, Celtic were far from done regarding snapping up potential new recruits hoping to join Ange Postecoglou’s Celtic revolution. As we got word that Celtic were shipping Leigh Griffiths out to Dundee on loan, after his latest indiscretion was the straw that finally broke the camels back, it was glaringly obvious that we needed another striker.
With Griffiths gone, the manager was down to only two options in that position, one being new signing Kyogo and the other Albian Ajeti, who many Celtic fans had lost faith in a long time ago. So when our 10th signing of the transfer window was announced as Giorgos Giakoumakis, many were intrigued as to what the Greek international striker could bring to the squad.
Looking closer at the player the first thing that stood out was that he had scored 26 goals in 30 games for Dutch side VVV-Venlo in the Eredivisie the previous season, finishing the league’s top scorer even though he was playing in a poor side who eventually got relegated. He had recently broke into the Greece squad where he had so far made 6 appearances, scoring once. It was impossible not to look at his recent goalscoring exploits and not be impressed.
Giakoumakis made his Celtic debut coming on for the last 15 minutes in Celtic’s Europa League match at home against Bayer Leverkusen, with the game already out of our reach. He made his league debut a couple of weeks later against Motherwell, once again being introduced as a late substitute. He started his first game shortly afterwards getting his first goal for the club against St Johnstone in late October in a decent performance that many hoped would kick-start his Celtic career.
Unfortunately a week later Giakoumakis missed a late spot-kick as Celtic missed the chance to overtake theRangers after a goalless draw at home to Livingston, which seemed to negatively affect his confidence. Many questioned why Josip Juranovic didn’t take the penalty as he had yet to miss from the spot for Celtic but the manager explained Giakoumakis was the designated penalty taker on the day. His previous record from the spot for VVV-Venlo was impressive so it’s easy to see why he was on penalty duty, however with the miss being so costly it was also easy to see why the fans were so annoyed by the weakly struck penalty.
Up until the winter break, Giakoumakis had only made 9 appearances, with only 2 of those appearances from the start. Most of the rest were fleeting substitute appearances. This was mainly due to him struggling with niggling injuries during the first half of the season, possibly down to the striker not getting a proper pre-season before arriving in Glasgow. I said at the time that I thought we had a player on our hands and I was excited to see what he could produce when he was totally injury free and had regained his confidence.
With Kyogo now out injured and Daizen Maeda away on international duty with Japan, the start of the second half of the season was the perfect time for Giakoumakis to show us what he was made of. He didn’t disappoint. Goals in the league against Hearts and in the Scottish Cup against Alloa got the striker up and running, it was his performance against theRangers in that wonderful 3-0 victory at Parkhead at the beginning of February however that seemed to really convince any remaining doubters of his talent. Although he didn’t score that evening, he proved an absolute menace against theRangers defence who struggled with his physicality throughout.
With the Greek strikers confidence soaring, we then started to see the goalscoring capabilities that he showed the previous year in Holland. Back to back hat-tricks at Celtic Park against Dundee and Ross County saw him shoot up the leading goalscorer ranks, with his performance against The Staggies in particular earning him rave reviews as not only did he score 3 in that game but also provided the assist to Maeda who claimed the other goal that day.
Giakoumakis claimed another goal in Celtic’s 7-0 rout of St Johnstone in the last game before the top six split, scoring it after coming on as a late substitute. The Greek international had a great end to the season, scoring four goals during Celtic’s last five games, including two goals after coming on from the bench for the last half hour against Motherwell on the day Celtic received the Cinch Premiership trophy. This gave him a total of 13 league goals for the season which was enough to see him win the top goalscorer award alongside Ross County’s Regan Charles-Cook.
When you think about the fact that Giakoumakis had barely played and only scored one solitary goal before the winter break, yet still went on to be the league’s joint top scorer for the season shows you the impact he had in the second half of the campaign. He also scored 4 goals in 3 games in the Scottish Cup and his absence due to injury in the semi-final against theRangers was definitely a body blow to a Celtic team that was flying at the time.
In total Giakoumakis made 29 appearances for Celtic last season. He scored 17 within that period and also provided 1 assist. Fantastic stats from the Greek striker in his first season in Glasgow.
I’m a big fan of Giorgos Giakoumakis. I think he showed during the second part of last season that he is the most lethal goalscorer currently playing in Scottish football. Practically all his goals were scored with his first touch which alludes to someone who is an absolute predator in the penalty box.
Scoring goals is not his only contribution however. He also provides Celtic with a bit of physicality that is rather lacking throughout Ange Postecoglou’s squad. We all love the speed and ability shown by the likes of Kyogo, Maeda, Jota and Abada but sometimes certain matches call for someone with a bit of strength and power up top. Giakoumakis certainly fulfills that role. He’s not scared of getting involved in a physical battle with defenders. It’s been a while since Celtic have had a striker so adept at playing that role.
Giakoumakis has proved to be an absolute bargain. To get the Eredivisie top scorer at such as cheap price was fantastic business by Celtic. I also like the fact that at 27, we have a player totally in his prime. It’s also an age where, unlike some of the younger players like Jota and Abada, we don’t have to accept that he will be here for a year or two before eyeing a move to one of the bigger leagues. You get the feeling Giorgos is happy with everything his career is currently providing him. His international career is flourishing, he has became a fan favourite at Celtic and next season he will get his first chance to play in the Champions League. I feel like Giakoumakis will be happy at Celtic for as long as we want him.
Last season he proved to be invaluable to Celtic especially during the second half of the season. His stats were fantastic and even disregarding his goalscoring exploits, he added something unique to this Celtic team in regards to his physicality up front. Overall I will be awarding Giorgos Giakoumakis 8/10 for his contributions last season. He is yet another player who will benefit from a proper pre-season this summer and another who I’m excited to see what they have in store for us this coming season.
Conall McGinty
