Giorgos Giakoumakis joined Celtic in the summer of 2021. Following his arrival at Parkhead, the Greek international was able to establish himself as a fan favourite and carried the goalscoring burden in the second half of last season, when Kyogo was out injured. And he was a key reason behind the Hoops winning the Premiership.
According to stats from Transfermarkt, he scored 17 goals in 29 appearances across all competitions in his first season with Celtic. This campaign, however, there was a clear lack of chances for the Greek striker. Especially with Kyogo hitting top form.
And it was not a major surprise when the 28-year-old left Celtic and moved to Atlanta United for a transfer package believed to be around £4.3 million recently.
Since leaving, Giakoumakis has been nothing but complimentary about the Celtic supporters. But it looks like he was not a big fan of the competitiveness level in the Scottish Premiership.
Giakoumakis appears to take another dig after Celtic exit
As reported by the Daily Record, Giakoumakis said:
"“I love the way they do it here. It seems like America loves the game of football. And one of the big attractions for me is that the MLS is a very competitive league. There are always different champions every season. It’s a competitive league, it’s an aggressive league and that’s something I really like.”"
It is believed that Giakoumakis was not content with the Scottish league’s competitiveness. Rumours also suggested that he was unable to agree a new deal with Celtic, which ultimately led to his Parkhead exit much sooner than was expected after his positive debut campaign for the Hoops.
He eventually completed the move to the MLS and is awaiting his work permit ahead of Atlanta United’s season-opener against San Jose Earthquakes on February 25. Of course, a lot of Celtic supporters will not be big fans of his recent comments.
To a certain extent, it is true that there is a lack of competitiveness near the top of the table in Scotland. But then, that can be said about most major leagues in Europe. Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG, Bayern Munich, Manchester City, all are clubs that have dominated their domestic leagues for years.