Vasilis Barkas, as you know, was sent out by Ange Postecoglou on a season long loan deal to Dutch side, Utrecht a few months back The former AEK Athens goalkeeper failed to impress during his two seasons at Celtic and made numerous critical mistakes before losing his place in the squad.
The introduction of Joe Hart, an inspired Postecoglou signing, followed by the signing of Ben Seigrist, means that the Barkas isn’t likely to play for Celtic again, so impressing at Utrecht is good news for Celtic as the club will be looking to recoup some of the £5m spend on their record goalkeeper signing from the Greek side back in July 2020.
Scott Bain was also given an extended contract by Postecoglou indicating that Bain is the thrid choice keeper and Barkas will have to play his football elsewhere.
And to the surprise of many Celtic fans, Barkas put in a class performance against Vitesse on Sunday. The keeper made 5 saves, 13 recoveries and maintained a clean sheet in a 1-0 victory. Hopefully, this performance wasn’t a fluke and he maintains his form and gets some regular game time. The Celtic board will be hoping his transfer value increases from what it was during the summer, as it was at an all-time low.
The Dutch club are currently 8th in the League and will be heading to NEC Nijmegen on Friday. It is unfortunate that Barkas never showed the Bhoys what he is really made of, at least he is getting that chance now, and will hopefully be a valuable asset in the next transfer window.
Barkas might be feeling right at home in Holland and well he might, as his mother is Dutch. Hopefully the on loan Celtic keeper continues to impress at Utrecht and they will look to make the deal permanent next summer.
