Even the chill wind whipping off the North Sea tomorrow will do nothing to alter the warm glow that Georgios Samaras has right now. The Greece striker loves the fact that he will hear his name sung by the Celtic supporters before he has even kicked a ball at Pittodrie because it offers a vivid contrast to the lack of faith shown by Sven-Göran Eriksson.

The former England manager jettisoned Samaras from Manchester City and he would not be human if he did not hope that Eriksson’s ears are burning when the Scottish Cup quarter-final tie with Aberdeen is screened live throughout Britain. Three goals in just five appearances since moving on loan have allowed Samaras to be taken to the hearts of the Celtic fans and the travelling support in Barcelona last Tuesday appreciated the way he made a point of crossing the Nou Camp to applaud them for their backing after the Champions League exit.

The 23-year-old is keen to turn his short stay in Glasgow into a permanent £3 million move, but he wants his future sorted out before helping Greece to defend their European Championship crown this summer. Helping Gordon Strachan’s side to win the Double would be the ideal bargaining chip.

Samaras made an instant impact in the last round of the Scottish Cup, when he came off the bench to score on his debut at Rugby Park in the 5-1 rout of Kilmarnock. Finding the net against Inverness Caledonian Thistle and Hibernian in the Clydesdale Bank Premier League was an effective contribution to the champions’ title push as well. If the jury is still out on Samaras’s true worth as a striker, he is doing his best to disprove his critics at Manchester City who have condemned him as a waste of the £6 million that Stuart Pearce, the former manager, paid Heerenveen, the Dutch club, for the tall Greek.

Samaras is careful not to name Eriksson as the man who forced him to seek exile across the border in Scotland, but he is not unhappy at the way things have worked out.

“I am really pleased that I made this decision to come to Celtic and enjoy my football again,” Samaras said. “It was really difficult. I did not enjoy my football in England but it was hard to move on because I loved being at Manchester City - but things changed. I feel that I want to stay here, if I have the possibility. In the end, I will make the decision but right now I am between two clubs. Manchester City have an agreement with Celtic to sell me for £3 million. I have nothing to prove here. I always believed in myself but some people at City did not trust me. To be honest, I never played in my true position. It’s their [City’s] loss. I am here and scoring goals and at a club that can win trophies. I cannot understand why they did not trust me but at the moment I feel wanted.”

Samaras insists that Strachan has been as instrumental as the supporters in helping him to settle in Glasgow. “I chatted to the manager before I signed and I just felt that this was the place that I wanted to play – and it was the correct move. The fans have been great to me. It’s important when they recognise what you do and love you and I want to thank them for that. I want to get more goals for them. One of the nicest feelings is to have the support of the public you play for and I love it when the Celtic fans sing my name even when I’m warming up, but it is even better after a goal.”

The Greece forward could have gone back to his homeland on loan – Panathinaikos were interested – but chose Scotland because he felt if offered a greater football challenge.

“In my opinion, this is a better league than Greece and Celtic are a bigger club than anything in Greece. There are fewer clubs, obviously, compared to England but you cannot compare many of them to Celtic. This club is better. I prefer to be with Celtic, rather than one in the bottom half of the Premiership trying to survive.”

Samaras dismissed the rumour that he had been going to join Rangers. “I never spoke to the other club in Glasgow,” he said. “No one from Rangers called me. The only official offer was from Celtic. I know there is a lot of pressure for Celtic to win every game but I enjoy that – my reaction is better when there is pressure.

“I really believe that I can go back home to Greece to prepare for Euro 2008 with two winners’ medals on my chest and [the Double] for Celtic. It is too soon to speak about this and Celtic and City have still to discuss everything but I want it all finished before the European finals.” Going from the Nou Camp to Pittodrie will be a bit of a culture shock for Strachan’s players but the one thing both occasions will share is a marked lack of enthusiasm from the home supporters. Thousands of Barcelona fans stayed away from the Champions League last 16, second leg, and there will be plenty of empty seats tomorrow as Aberdeen have sold only 10,000 tickets for a match which is live on Sky, although Celtic’s allocation of 3,300 is sold out.

For Strachan, who was part of an Aberdeen side that won the Scottish Cup in three successive campaigns under Alex Ferguson, between 1982 and 1984, and habitually encountered Celtic in front of a Pittodrie packed with 25,000 fans, it is another sign that the competition is losing its glamour. “The atmosphere was always good against Celtic but I also remember playing Motherwell at Fir Park in the Scottish Cup and there was a full house there.

“I don’t know if this is in response to Aberdeen losing a few games recently. We won 5-1 there in the league last month but that was a far tighter game than the scoreline reflected. I don’t know if Aberdeen will be up for it. I don’t think even Jimmy Calderwood can answer that but their attitude was good last week at Rangers.”