Utrecht boss Henk Fraser has ruled out making a permanent move for Vasilis Barkas and revealed the full extent of Celtic commitment to the keeper signed from AEK Athens in the summer of 2020.
When Fraser Forster decided not to return to Celtic Craig Gordon was already well down the road to joining Hearts after rejecting a reduced contract offer from Celtic.
Bizarrely Joe Hart was linked with a move to Celtic but with a focus on a future sell-on Peter Lawwell quickly killed off that option, moving for Barkas instead.
Like everyone except David Turnbull that joined Celtic in the summer of 2020 things quickly went downhill with the Champions League defeat from Ferencvaros an early warning that Barkas was a major drop in standards from Forster.
At the time of the deal a transfer fee of between £4-5m was mentioned, add-ons seem to be part of most transfers these days with AEK driving a hard bargain on their goalkeeper.
Speaking to The Sun, Utrecht boss Fraser said:
Vasilis Barkas is too expensive for us. That is clear to everyone.
He cost Celtic around 8 million Euros with add-ons. When I saw he was available in the summer and looked at his data, I couldn’t believe we would have a chance of signing him.
I strongly advised the club to sign him and I am glad we did. At the moment, he is doing great for us and he is in a good place. He is performing exceptionally well. He has been a great addition to the team.
The nature of those add-ons is unknown but unlikely to have been met with Barkas failing to win a trophy or qualify for the Champions League in his 22 appearances in season 20/21 and two appearances last season.
Barkas is under contract with Celtic until May 2024, while his wages and a transfer fee might be too rich for Utrecht his form in the Dutch League is likely to attract offers from elsewhere.
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