The Eredivisie is certainly one of the top leagues in European football outside the big five and one where Celtic have had some joy in recruiting top quality performers for the Hoops, with names like Pierre van Hooijdonk, Virgil van Dijk and more recently Giorgos Giakoumakis all arriving at Paradise from the Dutch league before going on to make their mark.
One of the positions that it’s believed Brendan Rodgers is looking to strengthen ahead of the transfer window closing in two weeks is in goals and with that in mind here’s an example of an outstanding double save in the Eredivisie against PSV, who are set to play either Swiss side Servette or maybe even theRangers this month for a place in the Champions League Group stages.
HeereNVEEN – FC Utrecht goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas during the Dutch Eredivisie match between sc Heerenveen and FC Utrecht at the Abe Lenstra Stadium on October 29, 2022 in Heerenveen, Netherlands. Photo ANP Sport
This is top class goalkeeping, and many Celtic fans reading this might actually go as far as to say it’s astonishing. But one thing is certain, despite the established quality of the Eredivisie there is NO CHANCE that Celtic would ever signing this particular goalkeeper.
On the theory, once bitten and all that, Neil Lennon took us down that particular road in July 2020, paying £5m to AEK Athens for his services. Yet it’s only now, three years later, that he’s beginning to perform like a £5m goalkeeper. Yes, the stunning double save was made by Utrecht’s keeper Vasilis Barkas. It’s quite remarkable really…
Meanwhile, check out Matt Corr speaking to the one and only Martin O’Neill on The Celtic Star Podcast…
