Giorgos Giakoumakis has been another one of Celtic’s transfer success stories this season. Having topped the Eredivisie scoring charts last time around, he had arrived with a lot of expectations at Glasgow. But his start to life at Parkhead left a lot to be desired as he struggled with both form and fitness, so much so that the Greek striker barely featured in the first half of the campaign. Thus, there were many fans who had written him off.

Giakoumakis has made an incredible comeback in the second half of the season though. With Kyogo Furuhashi out with a long-term injury since December, things could have easily gone wrong for Celtic. But since the turn of the year, the Greek striker has stepped up to the plate.

According to stats from Transfermarkt, he has scored 12 goals in 23 appearances for Celtic this season. He also has a couple of hattricks to his name for Celtic already and is starting to show why he was the top scorer in the Eredivisie last season.

Giakoumakis has even admitted to his struggles earlier on in the season although he believes that they have made him stronger. As reported by The Herald, the Celtic star said:

“It was a really frustrating time for me [in the first half of the season]. It was really difficult because I was trying to settle here and adjust to a new environment.

“I was looking forward to coming here and playing my first games but it was harder than I thought.

“I had an injury and also Covid so I was sick a couple of times. So it was difficult for me to get fit and strong and help my team-mates.

“It was a really difficult time but it’s made me even more [an] egoist. My ego is now even bigger.

“I worked even harder. That’s why I’m really strong right now.”

Giakoumakis makes brutally honest Celtic admission

It is pretty clear that Giakoumakis has won the trust of Ange Postecoglou with his performances since the turn of the year. The manager’s team selection is proof of that.

Earlier on in the season, in the Scottish League Cup final, Postecoglou had started Kyogo even though he was not 100 per cent. Last Sunday against the Rangers at Ibrox, even though the Japanese star was fit, the manager left him out of the squad and decided to go with Giakoumakis instead.

This just goes on to show how important Giakoumakis has become to this team over the course of the past few months.

This article was originally posted here