Giorgos Giakoumakis makes Atlanta United history as ex Celtic striker proven right with MLS 'more space' prediction

Former Celtic striker Giorgos Giakoumakis continued his blistering post-Parkhead career as the Greek made history at Atlanta United by becoming the faster player ever at the club to hit 10 goals.

The 28-year-old joined the Georgia-based side in January after being offered a more lucrative deal away from the east end of Glasgow and it’s worked out well for Giakoumakis across the Atlantic as he now leads the race for the MLS Golden Boot.

Giakoumakis netted in the 13th minute in the 3-1 win over Wayne Rooney’s side FC United to hit double figures. The ex Hoops frontman has averaged a goal every game since moving to America and broke the previous record set by Josef Martinez, the club’s all-time top scorer. Giakoumakis is now 10th in the all-time top scorers list for the club. The man signed by Ange Postecoglou from VVV Venlo aims to keep up his hot scoring streak, saying he believes he can score in “every game”.

He said: “Every year. I mean, c’mon, let’s be honest. I’m a striker. It has to be in my mind, It has to be in my mind first of all in order to give me extra motivation.

"Every single game I have to stay focused, I have to find my own motivation. That’s my first one. Whenever I feel I have to score in every single game, it means I also have to help the team more. Whenever I score, my team has an advantage. That’s why it’s in my mind always.”

Giakoumakis scored 26 goals in 57 appearances for Celtic, and was bought by Atlanta for a reported fee of £4.3million. He took a swipe at the Scottish Premiership standard when he joined, saying: "At 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. 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. I like pressure, I work under pressure all the time. I'm hungry for goals, I think that's my fuel."

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