When scouring through grainy YouTube footage of Celtic’s latest striker target – the Dutch-born, Poland-based Said Hamulic – the first thing that stands out is not the frequency of his goals but the variety of them.
As you might expect, given Hamulic’s rangy 6ft 2ins frame, there is a respectable tally of close-range tap-ins and towering headers. But there are also thumping finishes from long range, classy, curled shots from the edge of the box, and empathic one-on-ones following surging runs into the penalty area.
With Tuttomercatoweb reporting that Celtic are currently the club showing the most interest in Stal Mielec’s 22-year-old talisman, the immediate reaction was to think of Hamulic as a replacement for Giorgios Giakoumakis.
The Greek goal-poacher is ‘poised’ to leave Parkhead in January, the Daily Record say. Negotiations over a new contract have hit the buffers. But if Giakoumakis veers towards the ‘one dimensional’, Hamulic is, by contrast, something of a Swiss Army Knife. A targetman, yes, but a scorer of great goals as well as just a great goalscorer. A far more all-round number nine.
Hamulic has hit the target nine times in 17 league games this season. There has also been a further four assists – more than Giakoumakis has managed across the entirety of his Celtic career.
Celtic look at Said Hamulic as Giorgios Giakoumakis prepares to leave Parkhead
In fact, it’s hard to think of a Celtic striker with quite so many attributes since Moussa Dembele’s Glasgow heyday. Hamulic combines Giakoumakis’ height and strength with Dembele’s skill and guile, plus a healthy smattering of Odsonne Edouard’s vision.
His excellent dribbling ability, meanwhile, owes much to Hamulic’s time on the wing at his former clubs. While plying his trade through the middle these days, Hamulic retains many of the attributes that made him such a threat out wide; the delicious directness, the turn of pace, and the stand-out ball-carrying ability.
“He is always hungry for more goals and good performances. It’s a good feature,” Hamulic’s agent tells Przeglad Sportowy.
“One thing in particular makes me happy; even though he’s only been a striker for a few months, he has the attitude of a striker. 90 per cent of the strikers in the Polish league, when they get the ball with their backs to the goal, protect it. Block it.
“Said immediately wants to spin. This definitely makes him stand out from the rest.”
“One thing must be confirmed: there are lots of inquiries, from Poland and abroad,” adds Stal president Jacek Klimek (Nowiny24).
“Scouts from all over Europe come to our every game and observe (Hamulic). “We have a lot of calls. If the amount offered by the interested club is very high, and the player wants to leave at all costs, then we will have to sit down and discuss it. The interest is huge.”
The interest may be ‘huge’ but so, it seems, is Said Hamulic’s potential.
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