With rumours surrounding his future at Celtic Park, it is no surprise that a lot of fans took it as a sign that Giorgos Giakoumakis was away, when he was not included in the matchday squad to take on St Mirren. The absence comes as a surprise especially after the Greek striker found the back of the net in the Scottish League Cup semi-final vs Kilmarnock at Hampden Park.
There have been suggestions that Celtic have already accepted a transfer offer from J League side, Urawa Red Diamonds, although Giakoumakis is believed to be still weighing up his options.
Thus, his absence from the Celtic matchday squad has certainly come at a curious time, but it looks like it has nothing to do with a transfer but the fact that he is not fully fit.
As reported by Glasgow Live, Ange Postecoglou told BBC Sportsound:
"“The game took a fair bit out of us at the weekend. Cameron [Carter-Vickers] and Giakoumakis weren’t available tonight both pulled up a bit sore. I wanted to freshen things up.“Neither are serious we expect them at the weekend or the following weekend against Dundee United. He’s [Giakoumakis] not playing tonight because he was injured. If he wasn’t injured, he would be playing.”"
Postecoglou explains why Giakoumakis was left out of Celtic’s matchday squad vs St Mirren
While Giakoumakis might be carrying a slight injury at the moment, that does not mean that he could not be on his way out of Parkhead in the very near future.
On the contrary, all signs point towards him leaving soon. After all, he has not started a single game since after the World Cup break.
The problem for Celtic would be bringing in a replacement for the Greek striker. Other than him, Kyogo is the only other recognised forward in the squad, while Daizen Maeda can play through the middle as well.
Thus, if Giakoumakis leaves, the Hoops need to sign a similar profile of player. Unfortunately, it looks like their top target in the position, Cho Gue-sung, is set to remain at Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors. The club have been linked with a few other strikers though and let’s see how things turn out over the coming two weeks.