Giorgios Giakoumakis is keen on a move to Werder Bremen but the Bundesliga.2 outfit cannot match Celtic’s £12,000-a-week offer for the VVV Venlo striker, as reported by Deich Stube.
When trawling through the list of recent Eredivisie Golden Boot winners, one phrase comes to mind: ‘Mixed bag’.
On one hand, the likes of Memphis Depay, Luis Suarez and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar went on to shine in major European leagues after tearing the Dutch top-flight apart.
On the other, Alireza Jahanbakhsh, Vincent Janssen and Afonso Alves flopped big-time after making mega-money moves to the UK.
So the jury is still very much out on Giakoumakis, an elegant, ice-cool penalty-box poacher who scored 29 goals in 33 games for a VVV side who somehow managed to end the 2020/21 season in the relegation zone.
The much-travelled Giakoumakis had scored just 25 times in nearly 150 career appearances before moving to Holland, and there are understandable doubts about whether a stunning 2020/21 campaign was a flash-in-the-pan rather than the beginning of something special.
Is Giorgios Giakoumakis worth the risk for Celtic?
Either way, Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou is more than happy to take a punt on Giakoumakis, holding talks regarding a potential £3 million move to Glasgow this week (Daily Record).
Werder Bremen are interested too, although a side relegated from Germany’s top flight in May cannot match the £12,000-a-week wages on offer at Parkhead.
“It was a very good conversation. (Giakoumakis) liked it here in Bremen,” Werder’s technical director Clemens Fritz explained.
26-year-old Giakoumakis travelled to the picturesque, North German city earlier this week and it seems that life in Bremen would appeal to him.
“The parties are still talking. It was also important for him to get a feel for Bremen.”
Giakoumakis’s agent confirmed earlier this week that Celtic have indeed expressed an interest, before insisting that Werder Bremen are still very much in the race, even if they cannot match the financial muscle available to Postecoglou.
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