Presenter and writer Hamish Carton has said that a Celtic exit for Giorgos Giakoumakis ‘may happen’ in January.
According to Fabrizio Romano on Twitter, the Hoops have ‘reached an agreement’ with Japanese side Urawa Red Diamonds for the player.
In 2021, he made the switch to Glasgow from Dutch outfit VVV-Venlo for a fee of around £2.5m, and it has certainly been money well spent.
The Greek forward has played 57 times for Celtic in total and hit the back of the net 26 times and assisted twice.
Speaking on his YouTube channel, Carton admits that while he is a fan of Giakoumakis, the talk of his departure is ‘a bit exhausting’. He’s confident Celtic will replace him adequately and any other players that depart in January.
He said: “I do think once he’s not featuring in matchday squads, and that may happen on Wednesday [against St Mirren], we can then kind of start to come to terms with Giakoumakis leaving.
“I do love the big man, but I’ve found all the chat just a bit exhausting, same with Juranovic as well. Celtic will move on, we’ll replace these players – we’ve already signed Juranovic’s replacement – and we’ll be fine.”
TIF Thoughts on Carton’s comments…
We believe that Celtic fans are being put through the emotional wringer when it comes to Giakoumakis, as there’s been reports of him heading to a number of different locations including Italy (per journalist Gianluca Di Marzio) and France (via L’Équipe).
Should the Greek striker leave Celtic Park this month, Ange Postecoglou will need to make sure that a replacement is lined up before the end of the month.
Celtic have been linked with South Korean striker Gue-Sung Cho, with Sky Sports reporting they are ‘in talks’ to sign him amid German outfit Mainz ‘tabling a bid’ and interest from Minnesota United.
Should Postecoglou land the forward, he could be just what they need to replace Giakoumakis, as he bagged 21 goals in Korean football last year.