Celtic have agreed to a £3m deal for striker Giorgos Giakoumakis from Urawa Red Diamonds. Although it is believed that the first fee will be £3 million, Giakoumakis is still considering his options in the face of interest from MLS team Atlanta United, who have not yet made an offer. Greece’s forward joined Celtic in September 2021 after leaving Dutch second-division team VVV-Venlo for £2.5 million. He was the league’s joint-leading scorer last season with 13 goals in 21 games. Giakoumakis has played in 19 league games this year, scoring six goals. He also assisted in Saturday’s League Cup semifinal victories over Kilmarnock.
“You can never rule anything out when you approach the window, after all. You should be aware that guys occasionally move on,” Celtic boss Ange Postecoglou said about Giorgos Giakoumakis. “Nobody is being pushed out the door by us or by me. Every football player has career-related decisions to make, and you should respect that. I have open and sincere discussions with the boys, and if something is brought up about which one of the boys has strong feelings, we will talk about it. I am focusing more on bringing people in right now than on letting them go. We must continue to fortify. We need to keep getting stronger, in my opinion. We’re hoping to get another through the door before the window closes.”
The Parkhead club made a bid of about £3 million for Gue-Sung Cho this transfer season and has been actively hunting for a striker. Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors has also been in talks with the Parkhead club. The 24-year-old South Korean international is reportedly drawing a lot of interest, with Bundesliga club Mainz making a comparable offer and Ferencvaros also showing interest but not yet putting in a proposal. According to rumors in South Korea, Minnesota United has put together a package for Cho that would surpass any other offers that are currently on the table. Minnesota United revealed that they are also interested in the player.
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