Celtic are closing in on a deal to bring the Greece International striker Georgios Giakoumakis to Paradise, with Ange Postecoglou having spoken to his compatriot about the potential transfer.
A report this afternoon by journalist Duncan Castles, writing in Daily Record, appears to have considerably more substance that the Thomas Henry speculation from last week, of which we were always extremely sceptical, to say the least. Castles reports that the Greek striker – who was the top goalscorer in the Dutch Eredivisie league last season (despite his club being relegated!) – has been talking to the Celtic manager about a move to the East End of Glasgow.
Negotiations are already underway with bosses at relegated VVV-Venlo for the 26 year old striker who is entering the final year of his contract. Giakoumakis scored 26 goals last season in 30 league appearances for VVV-Venlo to secure the accolade of the Eredivisie’s leading goalscorer and a fee of around £2.5m appears to be what is going to be required to conclude the deal.
Castles points out that Giakoumakis’ 26 goal haul was seven more that PSV’s Donyell Malen managed and he was subsequently sold to Borussia Dortmund for €30m (£26m).
There’s even a quote from a club official, conspicuous by its absence on the Henry story. Stan Valckx, the VVV director of football said: “We still assume Jako (Giakoumakis) will be sold soon for the amount we have in mind. It has gotten noisier in the last few weeks, we are getting more and more calls.”
The journalist notes that Giakoumakis appears to be impressed by Postecoglou’s approach and relishes the prospect of leading the line for Celtic. Europa League football is also something that he won’t see at the regulated Dutch side and there’s a recent example in Georgios Samaras thriving in Scottish football playing for both Celtic and of course Greece.
Celtic open negotiations over transfer of Eredivisie’s leading scorer Georgios Giakoumakis. https://t.co/4jm8TySGOk pic.twitter.com/rYvw24zSYx
— Duncan Castles (@DuncanCastles) August 17, 2021
🇬🇷 | Georgios Giakoumakis
Celtic have opened negotiations over the transfer of VVV Venlo striker Georgios Giakoumakis. [@DuncanCastles]
▪️26 years old
▪️Eredevisie top scorer
▪️26 goals in 30 matches
▪️Out of contract next summer
▪️Greece internationalpic.twitter.com/yR03BbwFoO— Everything Celtic (@aboutceltic) August 17, 2021
