Celtic had to sell Odsonne Edouard on deadline, but have landed another goalscorer in his place having signed Giorgos Giakoumakis.
With Edouard inside the final year of his contract, Celtic had little choice but to sell when Crystal Palace came calling.
Celtic had to find another goalscorer though, and did just that with what looks like a bargain deal.
Giakoumakis has cost Celtic just £2.5million. Considering that he scored seven more Eredivisie goals than new Borussia Dortmund star Donyell Malen, that seems very cheap.
Giakoumakis, 26, hadn’t had much success before his stint with VVV-Venlo last season, but will now look to fill Edouard’s shoes.
That’s a lot of pressure on the Greek ace, but there have been cases of players starring at Celtic after arriving from the Netherlands.
Virgil van Dijk is the major success story, but some fans will also remember the goals of striker Pierre van Hooijdonk.
Signed from NAC Breda in 1995, Van Hooijdonk hit 56 goals in 92 games and is now predicting major success for Giakoumakis too.
Speaking to the Daily Record, Van Hooijdonk has boldly predicted at least 20 goals for Giakoumakis this season – as long as Celtic play to his strength.
The Dutchman called Giakoumakis a ‘top class’ finisher, and believes he is more similar to Leigh Griffiths than Odsonne Edouard despite his physical stature.
“I think he’s capable of scoring 20-plus goals for Celtic this season,” said Van Hooijdonk. “If you use him properly and play to his strengths, he’s going to get the club a lot of goals. The level of his finishing is top class. If you look at his goals, most of them are really good goals, with a real identity. They’re not all just about power.”
“I can understand what he tries to do with his finishes, even when he misses chances. This boy is different, he’s more of a poacher. He’s more like Griffiths than Edouard,” he added.
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