Why Giorgos Giakoumakis may have stunted his MLS transfer value | OneFootball

Of all the potential summer MLS transfer targets, few will be more intriguing for hardcore MLS nerds than the potential return of striker Giorgos Giakoumakis.

Over the weekend, reporting from TUDN and GiveMeSport indicated Giakoumakis could be open to a summer move back to the league, only a year after jilting Atlanta United for a more lucrative agreement with Cruz Azul.

The Greek international has scored at least 0.56 goals per 90 minutes in each of his last six club seasons, across the Dutch Eredivisie, Scottish Premier League, MLS and now Liga MX. And yet he hasn't played at the same club for more than two seasons since he scored double-digit goals for the first time, as a 21-year-old at Platanias in the Greek Super League during the 2016-17 season.

And of particular note, Giakoumakis ruffled more than a few feathers when he moved from MLS to Mexico with his comparison of the two leagues. This coming after he scored 22 total league goals for Atlanta but failing to help the club earn consistent results over a season-and-a-half.

""I think the level here is higher," Giakoumakis said of Liga MX at his introductory press conference at the Mexico City side. "That's the bad thing in MLS, it's ok to lose some games and I hate it."

Still a good fit with the right expectations

That doesn't mean he can't be a good signing for the right kind of club. Giakoumakis is 30 now, so any team planning on having him around for more than a couple seasons would be dangerously flirting with potential for significant, age-related decline. There may even be signs of it already at Cruz Azul, where his eight goals in 24 appearances (and 1,291 total minutes) his his lowest production rate since he moved to the Netherlands for the 2020-2021 European season.

But even in MLS, where there is more roster stability than some leagues, there is a history of strikers who have proven consistent goal scorers everywhere they play, even if they eventually wear out their welcome or become too expensive because of their proficiency.

Take Kei Kamara, the league's second-all-time leading goal scorer with 146 league goals, scored across stops at an astounding total of 11 clubs. Kamara played more than two consecutive seasons at the same club only once, in his early years with Kansas City from 2009 to 2013. (He also played two non-consecutive two-season streches with Columbus.)

But two-and-a-half years ago, Giakoumakis came to Atlanta with the aim of being a central building block in the project to restore the club to its success of 2017-2019, and at a salary that averaged roughly $2 million per season over his time in Atlanta (per data from the MLS Players Association) was compensated accordingly.

He probably won't find such a package waiting for him if he decides to return to MLS this summer. And if he does, the club that offers it would be wise to understand that its relationship with the striker may be bountiful but brief.