Giorgos Giakoumakis, currently of Cruz Azul, has made the headlines today by admitting that he would be open to a Celtic return. With the Hoops in need of a striker, many fans are already wondering if a reunion would be worth considering. But this does not mean that the Greek international's first stint at Parkhead was all sunshine and rainbows. Not by a distance.
Giakoumakis arrived in the summer of 2021 and struggled to make an impact in the first half of the season. Many fans had already written him off as a transfer flop but then, Kyogo got injured towards the end of the year.
This was when Giakoumakis stepped up to the plate. He scored consistently in the second half of the campaign, finished as the league's top scorer and powered them to the Premiership title. One could argue that he does not get the credit that he deserves for his heroics that season.
This is when problems might have started though as Giakoumakis was less than pleased with the new contract that he was offered by the club. And it ultimately led to his exit in early 2023.
'Disrespected' - Giorgos Giakoumakis explains how Celtic lied to him
As reported by the Daily Record, Giakoumakis said:
"The relegation with VVV-Venlo affected me a lot. Imagine scoring 29 goals and then you don't have any offers from any other team until August 26. Eventually, when Celtic realised that, 'All he has is us', they really took advantage of it.
"I had a ridiculous contract and then they told me when I signed, 'Well, if you prove yourself, we're going to sit down in summer and give you what you deserve’.
"But of course, that was a lie to bring me there."
Giakoumakis went on to say:
"So I talked to them and I said, 'Listen, you need to give me what I deserve.' And then they just offered me like £1,000 more per week. That was the offer they made to me.
"And I said, 'Okay, obviously it's not £1k more. It's like you are messing around and you don't appreciate me’. And at this time, I said, 'Don't even make any other offer because I feel disrespected and you didn't appreciate what I gave for the team and for the fans."
Of course, Giakoumakis' exit did end up affecting Celtic. They struggled to find a consistent backup goalscorer after that. Perhaps Adam Idah has finally taken up that spot.
One could even argue that Giakoumakis might have been the starter under the management of Brendan Rodgers, as we were no longer seeing the best of Kyogo. What is done is done though. It is interesting that despite how things played out for him at Celtic, he is open to a return. Perhaps it is because of the fans.