Vasilis Barkas

Aye unfortunately they were of the t-rex kind.

 

Get tae * ya junkie

 

Wouldnt worry too much on this. Option to buy only suits the buying side anyway.
If he had an option to buy for £500k and he was mince for them, they wouldnt buy him anyway. However if, by some miracle he tears it up, we can name our price.

 

Vasilis Barkas says he’s thrilled to be returning home after sealing a deal with FC Utrecht.


The 28-year-old has escaped the Parkhead fringes to join the Dutch outfit on a season-long loan agreement.


Barkas is delighted at the opportunity to kickstart his career after his big-money £4.5 million switch from AEK Athens to Glasgow turned sour.

However, the keeper has an additional reason to be excited about the transfer as it takes him back to his roots.

Barkas was born in the Dutch town of Zetten and said: “My mother is from here so I’m really happy that I came back.

“The last time I was here to visit Holland was 18 years ago, so it’s been a long time. So I can’t wait to meet some people here, and to see the Dutch philosophy, the food. I’m really excited.”




The 28-year-old has escaped the Parkhead fringes to join the Dutch outfit on a season-long loan agreement.

Barkas is delighted at the opportunity to kickstart his career after his big-money £4.5 million switch from AEK Athens to Glasgow turned sour.

However, the keeper has an additional reason to be excited about the transfer as it takes him back to his roots.

Barkas was born in the Dutch town of Zetten and said: “My mother is from here so I’m really happy that I came back.

“The last time I was here to visit Holland was 18 years ago, so it’s been a long time. So I can’t wait to meet some people here, and to see the Dutch philosophy, the food. I’m really excited.”



Initial negotiations between the clubs has seen Barkas’ move put in place for one year.




Reports in Greece have stated that Utrecht agreed to pay around two-thirds of the player’s wages to make the move happen and get him out of Parkhead.

It is also suggested that, although there is no loan-to-buy option in the current deal, talks could resume again at the end of this agreement to make the move permanent.


When next season is over, Barkas will be moving into the final year of his contract at Celtic after signing for four years in 2020.




In the meantime, the keeper is interested only in getting back onto the pitch and helping Utrecht to hit their targets in 2022/23.

Barkas said: “It’s really amazing. It’s a great honour for me to be at a great club with nice, crazy fans that I know and in a really good league.

“So I feel excited and I can’t wait to start training with my new team




The Greek international failed to shine in his first season under Neil Lennon as the team struggled and he lost his place after a string of tentative performances.

Ange Postecoglou’s arrival after the departure of Lennon provided a second Celtic opportunity, but, after starting the Aussie’s first match in charge against FC Midtjylland in the Champions League qualifiers, he was dropped again for Bain before the signing of Hart.




Barkas made one further appearance for Postecoglou against St Johnstone last Boxing Day, but now has a crack at reviving his stalled career in the Eredivisie.

Despite looking nervous and uncommanding during his outings for Celtic, Barkas had built a strong reputation prior to arrival during his time in Athens.




And, although he struggled for form at Parkhead, the stopper is adamant he can take his A game to Holland.

Utrecht Technical Director Jordy Zuidam spoke warmly about the experience, athleticism and reflexes of his club’s capture as well as his ability to deny strikers in one-on-one situations as he welcomed the signing into the Stadion Galgenwaard.

Barkas also told Utrecht’s TV channel: “I like to play football, I like to play outside. I’m not the type of goalkeeper who will stay on my line. So yes I would like to play outside

 

The positional awareness...

 

Even in that interview it sounds like he has little intention to play and is looking forward to a year long holiday.

 

https://www.sport24.gr/football/pos-egine-kai-ti-provlepei-to-deal-mparka-oytrechtis.9658290.html


At a time when another difficult transfer period for Vassilis Barkas was unreasonably discounted, his agreement with Utrecht was announced , in which he will play on loan next season, without providing a purchase option in the agreement.

The 28-year-old goalkeeper has been with his father since yesterday (06/06), Monday, in Utrecht for the procedures, since the most important part of the agreement was completed after the approximately fortnightly contacts of the three sides (Celtic-Utrecht-Barkas) and today underwent standard medical examinations and was announced.

It has been known since the beginning of last season that it was practically out of the plans of the "katholikon" coach, Angelos Postekoglou, something that also affected Barca's ability to find a team. In fact, in combination with the data of his contract in Glasgow, this pursuit was - practically - extremely difficult, as was evident in the two previous transfer periods.






But now, obviously, everything is "locked in." The "clover" staff, realizing that this would not be a solution, the problem would be perpetuated and a property of the Scottish champions would be devalued, agreed with Utrecht's prospect, accepting to cover a significant (essentially 2/3) part of Barca's contract, since in its entirety it was impossible to be satisfied by the Dutch club alone.

Indicative in any case and Celtic 's expectation for this deal is that initially the prospect of extending his contract for one year (until 2025) was discussed in order to take advantage of a possible good season in the Eredivisie and look, under different and desirable more favorable terms next summer, a sale as profitable as possible.

In the end, however, this did not happen, but with the agreement providing for a (something like) firstoption by Celtic until the end of May next year in order for the "Catholics" and Barkas, under a specific context, to then discuss the prospect of this expansion. .


So, in short, what was secured with this loan is that initially Utrecht, which under normal circumstances could never cover Barca's contract, satisfies its need for a goalkeeper.

At the same time, however, this gives Celtic the opportunity to put the Greek goalkeeper back in the spotlight, to get games, to regain his status in the market and so after the end of the loan to have different, improved data that will allow the Scottish champions at least to amortize part of their two-year investment.

 

To quote him I do t like to stay on my line I prefer to come out …. And their is why you are a * keeper Vasillas


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

If you know your Greek mythology, you will know that Vasilis Barkas (28) joined Celtic as a goalkeeper two years ago.

During last season’s league campaign, he made it onto the bench for the opening game against Hearts and played the Boxing Day fixture at St Johnstone. In the cups, he was a Scottish Cup fifth round substitute against Raith Rovers. It was the Champions League qualification that made Ange Postecoglou’s mind up about him.

Midtjylland earned a first leg draw at Celtic Park with a goal that Vasilis carried the can for. Ange had seen enough. The Boxing Day appearance was a result of significant illness in the squad, it is telling that Vasilis was unaffected.

Yesterday, he travelled to Utrecht in the Netherlands, the land of his birth, where he will spend next season trying to get his career back on track.

Barkas is the most expensive goalkeeper signing in our history and was a significant deviation from plan. International travel was banned in the spring of 2020 and scouts were not permitted to attend games until late in the summer.

Fraser Forster, who performed superbly for Celtic the previous season, had permission from parent club, Southampton, to train with us pending completion of an anticipated new loan deal. The south coast club had some details to take care of first but terms were agreed.

Craig Gordon had been backup to Fraser and had an offer on the table from Celtic to remain at the club another season. Craig, however, was at the stage of his career where he wanted to play and left to join Hearts on a significantly lower wage than was on the table at Celtic.

When Southampton gave Celtic the green light, Peter Lawwell called Fraser at Lennoxtown to confirm the deal was done, only to be told, “Actually, I’m not sure.” I understand there was a possibility of some goalkeeper movement at Chelsea and they were looking at backup options. Fraser was invited to empty his locker.

Had he revealed his hesitation a week earlier, Craig Gordon would have accepted the higher-paid contract at Celtic and stayed as first choice. He didn’t just let the club down, his ‘keeper pal was denied money and potentially medals.

Unable to scout, Celtic were left in a position of recruiting from the teams they play against, or relying on external scouts in Europe. This latter route brought Barkas to Glasgow. He successfully played against Celtic in Champions League qualification two years earlier, was a full Greek international with experience at the top table of European football.

We will hopefully never had to sign a player without going through proper scouting processes again, alas, a repeat of the behaviour of Fraser Forster is something we are likely to see at some point.

Good luck, Vasilis.


Some interesting info there, from Paul Brennan of CQN.

 

Just heard what Utrecht’s technical director said about him… does he think he’s Joe Hart?

 

How long has he left on his deal? He’s gonna get to run it down with full wages and not have to make a save again (lol) in a Celtic jersey isn’t he.

 

Going into his 3rd year of a 4 year deal I think.

 

Runs out 2024.

 

Ah well not so bad then, might get rid for good next summer or strike a deal with him to pay him off.

 

Not bad, if he goes over there and does a job we can just say give us back what we paid for him. Everyone is a winner.

 

He’s went to a good level, I hope he goes and shows everything we thought he’d be and we can demand a decent fee.

There’s been better players than him that’s crumbled at Celtic. But I can’t see a single * positive about his game, guys like Pukki I’m not surprised about what he’s done since us. He showed patches of what he’s capable of and that he’s a decent player at us, he was just terrified of the pressure at us. I’ve not seen that with Barkas. He was just shocking. One good game against Ross County for £4m odd quid.

 

100% agreed mate. I remember when being linked with thinking that's great business, the Athens keeper had a belter against us in the CL. Then I watched his YouTube highlights reel, can honestly say it's the first and last YouTube highlights reel that left me deflated and concerned. Those concerns proved to be justified. Genuinely find it baffling he has played for Athens, us and now Utrecht. As others have posted, his agent is miraculous

 

His highlights reel is something we’ve never seen from him btw, he was very shouty and commanding in it. From the one I watched anyway