Celtic flop Vasilis Barkas WILL return to Celtic Park this summer with Utrecht making it clear they can’t afford the fee for the player set by Celtic.
The Greek goalie was sent out on loan by Ange Postecoglou when it was clear there was no future for him at Celtic Park. Signed under Neil Lennon during the pandemic season, Barkas was nothing short of a disaster in goals.
It took Ange one game after coming in to replace the goalkeeper temporarily with Scott Bain but then bringing in Joe Hart.
Barkas has been Utrecht’s number one keeper this year and has impressed for the most part. However, the goalkeeper was part of a 5-5 draw a few weeks back!
There’s no real signal Celtic are willing to give Barkas another shot next season, but it looks as if it will be one and done for the stopper in Holland.
The Dutch side’s Technical director told RecordSport: “We have to talk about realistic purchase options. A club like FC Utrecht, which cannot afford huge transfer amounts, has to be creative. By loaning players first, we buy time. Vasilis Barkas will return to Celtic and he is too expensive for FC Utrecht.”
Celtic will be looking to recoup some of the £4m plus they paid for the goalkeeper but the bhoys have to be realistic also.
Perhaps Barkas’ stock has risen a bit since his loan move, however, there’s little chance we break even on this transfer.
The plan was always for Barkas to go on loan and show more than he did at Celtic to get his price up. Hopefully it has done the trick, but Utrecht will not be the buyers come the summer. Barkas will return a Celtic player next season until another club is found.
