Celtic manager gives worrying Giorgos Giakoumakis update

Celtic have been handed a string of injury problems in recent weeks, so much so that Ange Postecoglou has not been able to put out a team close to the club’s strongest for quite a while now.

One of the areas that has been most affected is striker. Kyogo Furuhashi has been sensational since arriving at Parkhead but picked up an injury while with the Japan national team in the previous international break. On the other hand, Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths departed Parkhead on transfer deadline day of the summer.

As a result, they have been left short of options up top. Albian Ajeti is the only recognised striker in the squad who has been available for selection over the past few weeks, with summer signing Giorgos Giakoumakis not yet match fit.

Giakoumakis has not played any competitive football for a while and is yet to make his first appearance for Celtic. As reported by the Daily Record, Postecoglou provided an update on the Greek striker’s situation:

"“He had a disrupted pre-season and didn’t get any friendly games so he’s obviously nowhere near match fit so it makes sense to start him off the bench.“The best way to get him up to speed is to get him game time.“We still have four games before the international break and if we can get some meaningful game time into him then use that break to top him up then he should be ready to go after.”"

Can Giakoumakis make a difference for Celtic?

It is safe to say that Giakoumakis is coming off of a spectacular season. He finished as the top scorer of the Eredivisie last season. But there are still some questions about whether he can get it done for Celtic.

There is no denying that his record before the 2020/21 campaign is not great. One would hope that the previous season was when the Greek international finally came into his own rather than a one-off.

He has not played a single minute of football for Celtic yet and it looks like there could still be some time before he is fit enough to start for the Hoops. Until then, it looks like it will be Ajeti leading the line for Postecoglou’s side. And it must be said that he has done a decent job in that role in recent weeks. On the other hand, Giakoumakis might get minutes here and there to help get him up to match speed.