The Celtic support appears ready to throw its weight behind Vasilis Barkas once again after his opening two pre-season games.
Earlier this summer, it had been reported that Barkas was being looked at by clubs back in Greece for a potential Parkhead escape route [Scottish Sun]. This came after a horrific first-season in which he twice lost his place in the side after two uncomfortable spells as number one.
However, with Celtic having splashed out £4.5m on him last summer [Scottish Sun], there looks to be a determination from all parties to make this work.
Greek journalist Giannis Chorianopoulos today claimed that any prospect of a loan move is said to be dead. Therefore, it looks as though Barkas’ long-term future, for now anyway, will be in Glasgow.
And Barkas now appears to be in the prime position to face Midtjylland in next week’s UEFA Champions League qualifier at Celtic Park.
The Celtic support need to see more from Vasilis Barkas this season
It never felt right to me that Barkas should simply have been discarded this season. Whilst strengthening our goalkeeping options feels like the right thing to do, Celtic made a big investment in the Greek stopper. He’s more than what he’s shown so far.
And that’s what he’ll have to prove this season. Last term, he was moving into a new footballing environment. A new lifestyle culture too, not to mention the differing climate that he’ll have been used to back in Greece.
This doesn’t, of course, wipe out some of the errors he made. Barkas should’ve saved a lot more than he did. Errors against Ferencvaros and AC Milan immediately spring to mind. But he still managed 11 clean sheets in his 22 outings [Transfermarkt].
He never had a settled defence in front of him either. It was a case of mix-and-match throughout the season between Kris Ajer, Chris Jullien, Stephen Welsh, Nir Bitton, and Shane Duffy. This year, he’ll hopefully have a more stable back four in front of him.
And the Celtic supporters look ready to place their trust in Vasilis once again after looking solid enough in pre-season outings against Sheffield Wednesday and Charlton Athletic:
In other news: TURKISH Report: Fenerbahce expecting Celtic offer for Bright Osayi-Samuel
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