Giorgos Giakoumakis has opened up about leaving Celtic on a transfer and said that he had hoped for a pay increase but it had not materialized.
Despite not being a regular, the Greek striker more than proved his value throughout his one and a half season with the Hoops, hitting 26 goals. In the 2021–2022 season—his first in Glasgow—he even tied Ross County’s Regan Charles–Cook for the league lead in scoring.
Giakoumakis was always going to be the backup center forward, though, since Kyogo was the primary option when healthy. Additionally, there were rumors of a contract disagreement, which the forward for Atlanta United has revealed to be true when he asked for more money following that game’s high score.
He added that although he was considering traveling to Denmark with Midtjylland, he did not want to return to Glasgow’s weather after seeing it firsthand.
He said on the podcast Offside with Taylor Twellman: “I thought, ‘Well, what do you think? You must now give me what I am due. I held out for it. Subsequently, they declined.
Upon concluding my visit, I asked myself, ‘Do I want to travel there again with this s*** weather – maybe even worse than Glasgow?’ I went out once a year in the park with my son while we lived in Glasgow. That is a dreadful situation. That was the reason I said, “Thank you, but I at least need the normal weather,” to Midtjylland.
“It was just Carlos, the vice president and technical director of Atlanta, who took a plane to Glasgow to meet with me. And I was rather grateful for that. They immediately demonstrated to me how valuable they think I am. We simply want to meet you, regardless of whether you will be able to sign for [us].
The 29-year-old has nothing but positive things to say about the club and has pleasant memories of it despite all of that.
“It’s a massive club, and the fans are making it a massive club,” he clarified. The supporters live and breathe football. Nothing more. Nothing more.
