REPORTS in the Italian press insisting Giorgos Giakoumakis has agreed to join Sampdoria are way off the mark.
It has been claimed Celtic will now have to negotiate with the relegation-threatened Serie A side over a transfer fee for the Greek international striker.
Just to put the record straight, the tale in a local website Gianluca DiMarzio that the Italian club “has an agreement with Giakoumakis” is erroneous in the extreme.
FAREWELL TO THE HOOPS…Giorgos Giakoumakis appears poised to turn his back on Celtic.
For a start, the 28-year-old frontman is under contract at the champions until June 2026 and is not allowed to negotiate deals on his own. Nor can his representatives without the say-so of his club who paid £2.5million for his services from Dutch side VVV-Venlo in August 2021.
If Sampdoria – or any other interested club – wish to sign Giakoumakis they will have to have to put in a bid that satisfies Celtic. Then, and only then, will they get the go-ahead to talk personal terms with the player.
There are also suggestions the Italian club want to take the Celt, who has scored 25 goals in 56 outings for the Hoops, on loan until the end of the season before deciding if it is possible to make the move permanent, as CQN reported earlier today.
The team sit second bottom of the Italian top-flight with just two wins from 17 games and face an awesome fight for survival.
It’s a bizarre scenario to believe Celtic would agree to allow a key squad player to leave on loan and have him returned in the summer with no business done if Sampdoria fail to beat the drop.
We acknowledge this is the silly season with the transfer window open until the end of the month, but this is getting just a little too daft.
