Pat Bonner suggests Celtic need to cut their losses on £4.5m man

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Pat Bonner has said it’s probably time for Celtic to get rid of Vasilis Barkas, but has rightly defended the purchase being made in the first place.

Barkas, a Greece international, had shown real promise in his homeland. With AEK Athens, Barkas had played Champions League football, and boasted an impressive record of clean sheets. 61 in 111 games, to be exact [Transfermarkt].

However, the Greek goalie had a dreadful first season with Celtic. Barkas looked bereft of confidence after some initial wobbles, and never regained composure for the Bhoys. Despite the Hoops spending £4.5m on Barkas [Scottish Sun], he quickly lost the no.1 jersey.

Scott Bain and, on occasion, Conor Hazard were preferred to the 2020 signing. The former, however, wasn’t necessarily better than Barkas. Hazard had the honour of sealing a Quadruple Treble for Celtic, but has seldom been seen since his Scottish Cup Final penalty heroics.

Bonner said of Celtic goalkeeper Barkas [Football Scotland]: “Unfortunately for Barkas, I think he needs to move on now.

“He’s an international goalkeeper, it hasn’t worked out for him.

“They obviously thought they were getting a goalkeeper with some pedigree, who has played in the Champions League and for his country. He’s failed and sometimes that happens.

“Sometimes you need to hold your hand up and say, we got it wrong.”

Bonner is right; Celtic need to find a good move for Barkas, with no hard feelings

Sometimes, it just doesn’t work out.

Listen, if players like Juninho can struggle in the Green and White, so can international goalkeepers. It just doesn’t happen sometimes.

And in fairness to Barkas, he was walking into an intense situation. The supporters clearly wanted Fraser Forster back. Barring some kind of incredible transfer trickery, we weren’t going to get some superstar goalie who’d leave Forster in their shadow.

So, there was that. And, of course, the pandemic. Moving across Europe can be hard at the best of times. Let alone when there’s little opportunity to really immerse yourself in a new culture. Add the pressure of trying to secure the 10, a dressing room that was fractured and a manager not getting performances out of his players, and the jigsaw comes together.

Again; sometimes it just doesn’t work out. But the idea of Barkas leaving with any significant bad feeling would be something of a shame. It’s not as if he meant anything other than to be a success.

Bonner’s right, though; for all parties, it’s best to part the ways.

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