Whenever the new Celtic manager takes a good look at the squad, he’ll have a major call to make on Vasilis Barkas.
Nobody knows as of yet what that call will be. Whether he’ll become the club’s number one shot-stopper again, or whether the club do all they can do sell him. Whether he’ll be in the manager’s plans, or so far out of them that his future will become inevitable.
There was some interesting news over the weekend of course. It had been reported by Greek outlet Sportime that Barkas wanted to stay at Parkhead. This came after AEK Athens had hoped to take him back on loan. Apparently that’s not something the big goalkeeper is interested in. Instead, he wants to stay at Parkhead.
But there’s the question of whether he deserves to. He was given 20 appearances this season by Neil Lennon [Transfermarkt]. However, look at the situation he was in as well as a closer look at the stats he picked up.
He’s played in 13 Premiership matches this season and only conceded 10 goals. Six of them ended in clean sheets. That’s despite the fact he hasn’t had a settled or even a good-quality defence in front of him.
New Celtic manager = new opportunity for Vasilis Barkas
As well as that, he’s had to come into both a different footballing environment and a different lifestyle. There are enormous challenges for a Greek footballer coming to Britain after spending so long in their homeland. You have to give them a proper opportunity to grow as well as the right backing.
It’s easy to forget, but Barkas hasn’t even been here for 12 months yet. He signed on July 30th. About a month or two later he was being criticised for a perceived lack of ability. A lack of ability that has seen him play at both international and Champions League level.
He was then backed by Neil Lennon before being dropped three games later. Hardly the kind of backing you would want from your boss.
So if we’re talking about providing players with clean slates under the new boss, surely Barkas deserves one more than anybody? He nearly has a year in Scotland under his belt. Now we should be expecting some return for the £4.5million spent on him [Scottish Sun].
And that’s something the Celtic supporters are backing too. As they discussed whether Barkas deserves another opportunity under the new manager, here’s what they had to say:
“Had a decent record”
https://twitter.com/chrismcgraw84/status/1378291553555394561
In other news, we look at what Callum McGregor said about Leicester City’s interest in him back in 2020.
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