Lionel Messi won his eighth Ballon d’Or this week, putting more gap between himself and Cristiano Ronaldo. You would almost think it was a Celtic-Rangers title race at this point. The Argentine is without a doubt one of the greatest to ever put on a pair of boots, if not the very best, which he most likely is. But he has not won every award that he was competing for over the last few days.
Messi recently left European football and joined Inter Miami. Unsurprisingly, he has made his presence felt there as well.
Messi was in the running for the prestigious MLS Newcomer of the Year award. But he came second. It was Giorgos Giakoumakis, who actually ended up winning it.
Of course, Giakoumakis left Celtic earlier this year in order to join Atlanta United. And in hindsight, it appears to have been a mistake on the part of the Hoops.
Messi comes second to former Celtic player
As reported by the MLS Soccer website, Giakoumakis has been named the 2023 MLS Newcomer of the Year. He got 45.78% of the total votes. Messi got 27.28% of them.
Of course, it is worth pointing out that Messi joined Inter Miami pretty late in the season. And while his impact at the club was instant, it was not enough to qualify them for the play-off phase of the MLS campaign.
As for Giakoumakis, he has enjoyed a great season. According to stats from Transfermarkt, he has scored 17 goals in 30 appearances for Atlanta United so far.
Celtic could certainly do with a striker of his quality at the moment. There is no real cover for Kyogo right now. Oh Hyeon-gyu did score the winner against St Mirren, but that was his very first goal of the campaign. One would be hoping that the South Korean striker will be amongst the goals moving forward.