Giorgos Giakoumakis in post Celtic nightmare as red tape stops striker TRAINING with Atlanta

Former Celtic star Giorgos Giakoumakis has been made to wait for his Atlanta United debut with red tape holding up his American dream.

The 28-year-old traded the Scottish Premiership for Major League Soccer in a £4million transfer Stateside after the towering Greek international proved to be a success at Celtic Park where he scored 26 goals in 18 months and was a key component to the side which won the title in Ange Postecoglou's first season. He struggled for regular game time this term with Kyogo Furuhashi leading the line for Celtic, and opted to try his luck Stateside.

However, his big move to America is off to a faltering start with the frontman still waiting on approvals of a work visa ahead of Atlanta's friendly clash with Toluca. Giakoumakis will have to wait on his debut with the first game of the campaign rapidly approaching with his new club kicking off the season against San Jose Earthquakes on February 26.

He now faces a fitness race ahead of the new campaign, with the work permit delay meaning he has been unable to even train under boss Gonzalo Pineda and work alongside his new teammates. Giakoumakis has not played since his final Celtic appearance on January 14, where he netted his last goal for the Hoops' against Kilmarnock after climbing off the bench.

However, Pineda remained undeterred by the hold up and insisted the striker is the perfect fit for the club. He told the Atlanta Journal: “You can see immediately that he’s a guy that is passionate about scoring goals.

"And what I like about him is he’s always on the move, looking for gaps. And once he’s inside the 18, he has those double movements that I really like. So, he’s always pressuring, he goes to the near post, he goes to the far post, he’s