Celtic receive massive Vasilis Barkas transfer hope

Celtic signed Vasilis Barkas in the 2020 summer transfer window after the club failed to bring back Fraser Forster to Parkhead from Southampton. The Hoops are believed to have shelled out a transfer fee around £4.5 million to sign the Greek international goalkeeper and expectations were that he would go on to become the club’s regular between the posts for the next half-a-decade at least.

It is safe to say that things have not turned out that way. After a decent start at Celtic, Barkas appeared to lose his confidence and eventually his place in the team.

There were hopes that he would establish himself as Celtic’s first-team goalkeeper this season but after a couple of mistakes early on in the campaign, the club decided to sign Joe Hart from Tottenham Hotspur, who has become their first-choice between the posts as well as a leader in this team.

On the other hand, Celtic are believed to be looking to find Barkas a new club, either on loan or on a permanent basis. They appear to have been handed some hope in that regard. IFK Goteborg are a Swedish club who have been linked with the Greek goalkeeper and recent comments from their director of sports, Pontus Farnerud, are certainly interesting. As reported by The Scottish Sun, he said:

"“We are close. But I do not want to say who it is.“We want a more experienced goalkeeper. We have looked at many and have been careful in the process and have high ambitions to find the right keeper with as much quality as possible.”"

Could Barkas be set to leave Celtic for IFK Goteborg?

The timing of the comments is certainly interesting as IFK Goteborg were linked with a loan move for Barkas just recently.

Also, the Swedish transfer window does not close until the end of March. Thus, the club have a lot of time on their hands if they do want to make a move for the Celtic goalkeeper.

At this point of time, Barkas finds himself behind both Hart and Scott Bain in the goalkeeping pecking order at Parkhead. As a result, a move away from Celtic makes sense for him.