Report claims Celtic are about to write-off expensive 2020 signing

Celtic are reported to be close to ‘ripping up’ the remaining two years of Vasilis Barkas’ contract with the keeper attracting interest from Greece. 

The former AEK Athens keeper will forever be associated with the nightmare 2020/21 season where he shared goalkeeping duties with Scott Bain and Conor Hazard. 

Barkas never got over losing two goals against Ferencvaros in the Champions League qualifier, cruelly some fans and pundits questioned whether he had made any saves after a few months as a Celtic player. 

Tonight the Daily Record reports: 

Outcast Vasilis Barkas will have his nightmare spell at Celtic brought and end this summer, according to a report. 

The 28-year-old has failed to hold down a regular spot in the Parkhead starting line-up after following a £5 million move from AEK Athens in the summer of 2020. 

Under Ange Postecoglou the stopper has barely featured and slipped down the pecking order to third choice at Celtic Park with Joe Hart and Scott Bain holding the top two positions. 

Time appears to be up at Parkhead as reports in Greece claims the club are willing to cut their losses this summer. 

Barkas is contract until 2026 and Sportdog state that the club are weighing up “ripping up” his contract to offload his salary. 

Ripping up may be the headline, reality is that a settlement involving a pay off is being negotiated. According to Transfermarkt the contract runs until 2024, not 2026.

Barkas played two competitive matches in the season just finished, conceding a soft goal at home to Midtjylland in a Champions League qualifier than coming in as an emergency call up against St Johnstone in December when Joe Hart and Scott Bain were self-isolating. 

When Fraser Forster turned down the chance to return to Celtic in the summer of 2020 attention turned to the AEK Athens keeper but it turned out to be a very costly move in many ways.