Giorgos Giakoumakis isn’t afraid to talk the talk and the Celtic hitman proved he can walk the walk as well.
But Takis Fyssas reckons the frontman will be true to his word and run amok when he's at full tilt next term.
Giamoumakis was the star of the second half of the campaign, with the 27-year-old notching 16 times from the turn of the year to end up joint top scorer in Scotland.
The former AEK Athens man knows how to find the net and can rattle some cages as well.
Giakoumakis was proved right when he claimed back in February Celts would finish champions and he had the crystal ball out after the title was won when he declared his aim to be the outright top marksman in this country in the coming campaign.
Former Hearts favourite Fyssas isn’t surprised to see the big striker oozing confidence and he also believes Celtic fans have yet to see the best of the ex-VVV Venlo poacher.
The Greece sporting director works closely with national boss Gus Poyet and is looking forward to hooking up with the hitman this week as the national side gear up for Nations League clashes with Northern Ireland and Cyprus and a double header against Kosovo.
Fyssas helped persuade Giakoumakis move to Scotland – and he’s predicting big things for the marksman for Celts at home and in the Champions League.
He said: “When I heard Celtic were interested in him and he wanted to move there I spoke to him about Scottish football.
“I told him that the Scottish league would be perfect for him.
“He’s strong, he’s clever, he scores goals, he works for the team and he had the right experience to do well.
“But I think he can do even better next season with Celtic,
“I hope he doesn’t do well against Hearts and I joked with him not to play so well against my old club.
“But he did so well and I wish him all the best in Scotland.
“For Greek football we need guys like him to be playing well in a good league.
“It’s in his hands. He has to show to everybody that he is stable in his performances and he is getting better.
“It’s important to see his performances next season.
“What is important for Giorgos is to show everyone who he is, and try to be better.
“Let’s see how he is going to react. I believe there is a lot more to come from him.
“If he can avoid injuries, get a good preparation, live a nice life, he’s a family guy so I’m not afraid for him.”
Giakoumakis was a slow burner following his arrival last summer but ended up on fire as Celtic put the foot down to race to Premiership glory.
Fyssas knows it was a tough start for his big pal but he wasn’t surprised to see the late burst of goals.
Giakoumakis was top scorer in Holland the previous year – despite Venlo going down – and he repeated the trick in Scotland.
Fyssas said: “He’s an experienced player. Every year will give him more confidence, and that’s especially true for goal scorers. They feed off the goals.
“It is important for him to rest his body after the national team games, because we now have four national team games.
“Then he will have to focus on his club and his performances. If he does that, I believe he will play even better next season.
“Last season he didn’t have a complete preparation with his club, he had some problems at the beginning, on and off the park and he wasn’t in a healthy situation.
“But he managed to get over that and put it behind him and then he started playing and scoring.
“It was his first season and to finish as top scorer in Scotland, a year after being the top scorer in Holland is a great achievement.”
Fyssas is challenging Giakoumakis to become one of the main men for Greece as well – despite some heavyweight competition in the striking department.
But the Jambos Scottish Cup winner in 2006 is convinced staring in the Champions League for Celts can give him the platform to kick on.
National team supremo Fyssas said: “We are keeping a close eye on Giorgos and we have seen him doing well this season.
“I am the sporting director for the Greece team and we have been really pleased with him.
“In Greece we have some other good players in his position.
“We have Vangelis Pavlidis in Holland who is scoring all the time, he is also an improving player and he has big value too.
“We have Anastasios Douvikas, we have Taxiarchis Fountas who also plays in America, but Giorgos has started to show his quality.
“If he starts to play great games and shows his quality in the Champions League or the Europa League, of course he is going to improve himself and become a very important member of the national team.
“We need these kind of players, we need to show personality.
“It’s important in the national team that we have players who are important at their clubs, but they need to understand that they need to have success with the national team.
“It’s important for the players to understand that it’s good to play well for their clubs, but it’s also important to have good performances for the national team, and go and play in the big tournaments like Scotland may do in the World Cup.”
