New dad Giorgos Giakoumakis knows he might struggling for kip in the coming weeks with his family heading back to Glasgow.
But the Celtic hitman insists his focus is still on giving Scottish Premiership defenders sleepless nights. The Greek hitman is celebrating the arrival of his new daughter in the summer but his family had to remain in his homeland sorting out travel arrangements. Giakoumakis is thrilled they are on the way along with the night time feeds but the frontman is hungry to get back on the goal trail.
He said: “They are back in Greece at the moment as they need to sort out a passport but they should be here in the next 10 days. I miss my family, my son, my daughter and my wife, so I am looking forward to bringing them back. Of course, it’s difficult. Your family have to be next to you all the time, otherwise it’s very difficult as you don’t get many days off to travel to them. From the moment we decided to give birth in Greece, we knew it would be tough for a month or two because they had to stay back. But it won’t be much longer until they are with me. They are my strength all the time.”
Giakoumakis loves life in the fast lane at Celtic but he admitted he’s ditched the sports cars now he’s a family man. He said: “It doesn’t change my mind about football. They change your decisions about your life, how you spend your money, different things that make you more mature.
“You are forced to be! No more flash cars? To be honest, that is a passion of mine and I can’t hold it back! I had some cars. At the same time I was doing my investments, so I was trying to keep a balance. The main reason I can keep a balance is my wife – she says, ‘don’t do this, don’t do that!’”
Giakoumakis missed some of pre-season when he was back in Greece for the birth of his child but he’s caught up and is determined to open his goal account for the season. The striker had a slow start when he arrived last summer but was a key man in the second half of the campaign where his 18 goals made him a fans’ favourite – and fired him joint top of the Premiership scoring charts.
Giakoumakis, speaking to the Celtic View podcast, said: “It feels different to last summer. I am really important for this club and the fans make me realise it every week.
“It’s something I always appreciate and will always love – and always remember. That’s one of the reasons I will try to do my best on the field for this club. I want to score some goals as I already miss celebrating with them.”
Giakoumakis already has his own chant and he can’t wait to hit the net to hear it again. He said: “I love it, whenever they sing my song. I just love it. Sometimes, when we’re celebrating in the dressing room with my teammates, they make fun of me. “We don’t have it on the stereo, but they sing it on their own! I feel very good right now. I feel settled and really happy playing for this jersey. The energy we have in the training centre is really positive. We are happy we started the season with two wins from two games.”
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