Chris Sutton delivers worrying verdict on new Celtic signing

Giorgos Giakoumakis was one of the most interesting Celtic signings in recent memory. The Greek striker is coming off of an incredible 2020/21 campaign, where he topped the Eredivisie scoring charts and by some distance. But his goalscoring record before that is not great to say the least. In fact, he scored more than half of his career goals last season!

His start to life at Celtic has not been what most would have expected. Giakoumakis has struggled to get up to match speed and just when it looked like he was ready to come into the first-team picture, he ended up suffering an injury setback.

Till now Giakoumakis has only made one appearance for the Hoops, featuring for 16 minutes according to stats from Transfermarkt.

Chris Sutton has delivered an honest verdict on the striker’s situation. He admitted that Giakoumakis has been unlucky but pointed out that it is not a good sign that he suffered a setback so early in the season. He wrote in his column in the Daily Record:

"We now need to see what Giorgos Giakoumakis is all about. It’s fair to say it’s been an inauspicious start.I feel a bit sorry for the Greek striker. He arrived with a big reputation after being top scorer in Holland last season with a team that got relegated.But he’s had nothing but bad luck since.He had issues when he landed but then got himself fit and suffered a set back in the warm up when he was about to make his debut against Raith Rovers.Of course that’s a worry. He’s not taken part in much of a pre-season and hasn’t played any games. It’s not a great sign breaking down that early.It’s now October and he’s yet to start a game.This last week at Lennoxtown should be invaluable though. He needs to get up to speed quickly."

Giakoumakis could have an important role to play for Celtic this season

It is safe to say that Kyogo is the first choice striker at Parkhead right now after the incredible start that he has enjoyed to life at Parkhead. But beyond him, there does not appear to be a lot of options for Ange Postecoglou to pick from.

We have already seen Albian Ajeti get a run in the first-team this season and while he did score a few goals, his overall performances were not great. And he does not seem like the man who can lead the line for Celtic on a long-term basis.

On the other hand, we are yet to see much of Giakoumakis at all. Hopefully he can gain fitness and form soon, as Celtic definitely do need some cover for Kyogo even if the Greek striker is not able to break into the starting XI ahead of the Japanese star.