Celtic have this evening confirmed that goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas has joined FC Utrecht on-loan for the upcoming season after a failed move to Parkhead. The Greek has come in for some hefty criticism for his displays in the Hoops after arriving from AEK Athens for an eye-watering £5 million.

Barkas will now look to ressurect a career that has been similar to the recent tenure of Boris Johnson, such has been the calamity attached to his name. Having been brought to the club by Neil Lennon in the summer of 2020, his immediate relationship with the fans was precarious due to him not being Fraser Forster. The big Englishman rejected the chance to rejoin after a sensational season between the sticks on-loan from Southampton.

Celtic had released Craig Gordon after he was not promised the desired minutes to get and keep his international number one berth under Steve Clarke. After the Invincible Gordon departed to join Heart of Midlothian, Barkas was then drafted in with the sole intention of being the new Celtic number one and came with a decent deal of pedigree.

After helping knock-out Celtic in the Champions League qualifiers of the 2018-19 season, he went on to star in the group stages that year with Athens as they returned to the top table after a long absence. If memory serves Barkas was strong in both his performances against the Bhoys that year as we faced another failure to gain entry to Europe’s top club competition.

Celtic released a statement tonight relaying the fact that the Greece international had sought pastures new after being well down the pecking order under Ange Postecoglou this year. Ange did give Barkas a try but he failed to grasp his opportunity, letting a clanger in during another Champions League qualifier versus Mitdjylland of Denmark.

Hopefully Vasilis can enjoy his football once again in a less pressured environment where the need to win is everything. Some players just can’t seem to be able to hack the magnitude of playing for Celtic Football Club and the jersey weighs heavy on them. That may just be the case with Barkas.

Sometimes in life it isn’t meant to be.

Here is the short Celtic statement:

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