Signed from AEK Athens for £4.5 million pounds, Vasilis Barkas came to Celtic with high expectations. The ‘keeper, though, never lived up to them.
He was supposed to lead Celtic in their most significant season in recent memory. The Greece international’s stint in Glasgow turned out to be the worst of his life, as he now jokes. “Of course,” he stated (Daily Record). I make an effort to forget that time at Celtic. My family and I experienced hardship. I was working for a large team, but I was having trouble using Covid. Everything was hard, including the weather. After falling to my lowest point in Scotland, I now value everything. I told myself that I didn’t want to experience hardships in football or in my personal life once more. Of course, I had mental health tests.
Barkas’ transfer to the Scottish champions made sense on paper for both sides. The now 29-year-old, nevertheless, expressed doubts about his desire to exercise when things got tough: “I was saying ‘I don’t want to go to training’ and ‘why is this happening to me?'” It wasn’t fun for me. I mentioned once that I needed to make a goal in order to start enjoying it once more. You cannot perform if you are unhappy.
Barkas left Celtic in the summer of 2022 for FC Utrecht in the Netherlands, having played just 24 games over the course of two seasons. After first joining on loan, he finally returned to the team full time.
He has played twice as many games in his year and a half there as he did in his 24 months at Parkhead. It’s encouraging to see Barkas flourish in Glasgow after such a long fight.
His switch to the Hoops just didn’t work out in the end. Barkas is clearly a gifted player, but his career was marred by mismanagement, Covid, and the worst season in recent Celtic history. Despite this, Barkas is currently enjoying success in Holland.
Leave a Reply