Celtic must pick Barkas over Forster because of one reason

It looks as though it’s down to a straight final two of Barkas and Forster for the gloves at Celtic. Here’s why the Hoops must pick the Greek international.

To reach that conclusion Celtic as a club, the management and the fans have to weigh up several important factors and, as the club tend to do on these situations, let the head overrule the heart when making the decision.

If Celtic could have had Fraser Forster secured on loan or on a permanent deal weeks ago, that would have been an entirely correct and satisfactory decision. Everyone knows what the big man is capable of from last season and of course his earlier spell at the club. He’s a fantastic keeper.

But he’s not who we should now be keeping or signing. Forster has had his opportunity to commit. He’s wavered in a way he rarely does between the sticks. He rejected Celtic and even if his plans to go back to Southampton and fight for a place, or sign for Chelsea as a back up – both seem to be disappearing. It’s now too late to come back to Celtic though as Barkas looks a far better option.

Why Barkas? There’s been plenty written about this guy’s merits and form recently. Even down to today’s stories about his love for playing outfield in training. The facts are simple. He’s already playing big games for a big club and internationally too.

This isn’t a rookie, he’s got top level experience. Including Champions League matches. He was in the AEK team that knocked Celtic out in qualifiers. At 26 his best years as a keeper are still ahead of him and a good number of years too.  Barkas has signalled his desire to come to the Hoops where he knows he’ll get big games, the chance to develop further and to cement his place as the Greek No.1 too.

He’ll recognise the specialist coaching abilities of Stevie Woods at the club and how he has worked with Craig Gordon and Fraser Forster, turning round their careers after difficult periods. If Celtic sign Barkas they’ll get a player keen to be there, not because it was a choice he was left with.

Then there’s the money and the future. We won’t know what a deal with Forster looks like, whether it would be a loan or permanent with a fee. Either way it was likely to be huge wages. And if only another loan, it would be just delaying a goalkeeper problem until next year.

A Barkas deal appears in the offing at around £5m and some add-ons or a sell on clause. Forster would cost more if signing. Wages for Barkas will be well below what Forster would be on, even if that were slashed by half from his current deal at the Saints.

Instead, Celtic can get this experienced keeper for the future, not for a year, but for his better years. With the prospect of a stable keeper and/or perhaps another potential profit from a sale towards the end of a contract.

Heart versus head. Thankfully now it’s not looking like Hart versus Marshall. Let’s get Barkas signed and move on. Everyone knows that makes sense, however much they loved Forster in the past.

The thing is, Forster had the chance to come but did not. We all know the jersey does not shrink, especially not for someone who thinks he is too big for it in the first place.