Celtic are set to release Vasilis Barkas. The goalkeeper joined from AEK Athens in a deal worth £4.5m in the summer of 2020 but the goalkeeper failed to impress and spent this season on loan at Utrecht.
According to Greek journalist Giannis Chorianopoulos, the club and the player have reached an agreement that will see him leave the club this summer but with his contract not being paid up.
❗ Celtic and Vasilis Barkas have an agreement and Greek GK will be free. Celtic ‘s benefit that they will not pay the last year of his contract. Official soon 🟢@CelticFC #Celtic #CelticFC #Barkas
Full story here 👇— Giannis Chorianopoulos (@choria80) June 3, 2023
This is a masterstroke from the Celtic Chief Executive Michael Nicholson as it was believed that Barkas was a top earner at the club. The deal will result in a substantial saving to the club, meaning it can be redirected accordingly towards new players and retaining current players.
Celtic have tried to sell Barkas in two summer windows but have struggled to find any suitable clubs willing to pay a fee for the Greek Internationalist. It resulted in the loan deal to the Netherlands, where the player impressed but his salary and the buy-out fee were too great for the Dutch club. The likeliest outcome is that he will return to Utrecht over the summer but Celtic would’ve likely lost him for free next summer.
There is another possibility and that is that the club have simply decided not to trigger their fourth year on deals, which has been so common to include in the past. Either way, if we cut ties with the player now, we are moving on from the traumatic Covid season.
Barkas has just two appearances last season and found himself down the pecking order at Celtic. The arrival of Hart as well as Scott Bain being given a new deal suggests that the prospect of ever breaking back into the first team is slim. The former £4.5m man will be keen to get his career back on track by sealing a move away from Celtic, it would be in everyone’s best interests if this could be achieved on a permanent basis with some of the outlay returning to Paradise.
