Giorgos Giakoumakis has revealed he was sold on Atlanta United by Celtic mate Alistair Johnston and the special attention of former Rangers star Carlos Bocanegra.
The Greek star has finally been unveiled after his protracted departure from Celtic and is relishing the prospect of being the No1 striker when he had to play second fiddle a lot of the time to Kyogo Furuhashi at Parkhead. And he reckons he will enjoy more competition as he reckons the Scottish Premiership isn't that good.
Giakoumakis, who has immediately been christened 'Gio' by his new club, said: “Alistair knew all the offers I had and when I told him about Atlanta he said ‘just go’. He said ‘You’re going to enjoy it, you’re going to smash it and this is the best thing for you’.
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“Carlos was the only one who came to Glasgow to visit me and that means a lot to me. I wanted to go somewhere where I would l feel important, be No1 and a crucial player and Carlos sold that to me from the very first moment.
“I think my passion will suit the Americans. I love celebrating with the fans. “I’m hungry for goals. That is my fuel.
"In Celtic it was a totally different style of play, the competition there is not so good. There are two clubs, and all the other clubs try to defend. Most of the opponents were trying to block is in their box, we were keeping possession and trying to create spaces, score in a different way.
"I think this league (MLS) is a bit more competitive, they all try to play, so I think I will even more space in the back of their defence and create more problems."
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