MLS star who beat Lionel Messi to award sums up his achievement

08 November 2023 , 12:33

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Giorgos Giakoumakis has expressed his joy at claiming the MLS Newcomer of the Year award and admitted the achievement is a "different gravity" with Lionel Messi also up for the accolade.

Giakoumakis joined Atlanta United for a £4.3 million fee back in March following a brief spell at Celtic and immediately hit the ground running. The signing saw him replace Atlanta club legend Josef Martínez who transferred to Inter Miami.

Despite having big shoes to fill with Martínez's departure, the Greek forward ended the regular season with 17 league goals and three assists in 27 appearances for the MLS side - scoring his first goal three games in during an emphatic 5-1 win over Portland Timbers. His knack in front of goal saw him boast the league's best goals-per-90-minutes ratio (0.85 with a minimum of 1,500 minutes played) and being named in the 2023 MLS All-Star team.

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The 28-year-old's goal tally saw him finish as the joint second highest goal scorer in the league alongside FC Cincinnati's Luciano Acosta. Los Angeles FC striker Denis Bouanga claimed the top spot with 20 goals to his name - despite playing for more games than Giakoumakis.

Following his impressive debut season Giakoumakis was well deserving of the 2023 MLS newcomer of the year award.

"I’m really happy and satisfied for winning this trophy,” he said via The Athletic. “It has a different gravity when you win and you’re competing against Messi. So I think the gravity of this prize is even bigger right now.”

Giorgos Giakoumakis was instrumental to Atlanta United's season (Photo by Rich von Biberstein/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Messi was also nominated for the award having joined Inter Miami in July on a lucrative two-and-a-half year contract. The World Cup winner also took to the league quickly with a stunning free-kick goal on his debut to defeat New York RB 2-0.

The 36-year-old ended the season with 11 goals and five assists in 14 total appearances. He was also instrumental in guiding the team to win the Leagues Cup - Miami's first piece of silverware.

Despite claiming the award ahead of Messi, Giakoumakis - who also missed several games through injury - claims he would have performed even better if he was fit.

“I cannot say I did extremely well because I know my abilities, but I cannot complain at all,” Giakoumakis said. “I cannot be sad. I cannot have second thoughts. I’m happy and proud of what I did at the end of the day. I think I did okay.”

Giakoumakis wasn't the only Atlanta United star to claim a win at the MLS end of season awards. Argentine World Cup winner Thiago Almada was named 2023 MLS Young Player of the Year.

The 22-year-old midfielder ended the campaign with the most goal contributions - 19 assists and 11 goals.

Atlanta are next in action when they face Columbus in the next round of the playoff series on Monday (November 13).