With the goalie whose contract was cut, the Hoops faced a nightmare.
Following Joe Hart’s announcement that he will be retiring at the end of the current campaign, Celtic will be looking to add a new custodian during the summer transfer window.
The 36-year-old custodian has been a fantastic asset to the team since joining on a permanent basis from Tottenham Hotspur in the summer of 2021.
Between the 2021/22 and 2022–23 seasons, Hart started 72 of the team’s 76 Scottish Premiership games as the Hoops won the championship in both years.
Vasilis Barkas, the massive flop the former England international replaced at Parkhead less than three years ago, was Celtic’s biggest disappointment.
The sum that Celtic paid Vasilis Barkas to sign him
Former Hoops manager Neil Lennon pounced to sign the custodian from Greek team AEK Athens in the summer of 2020 for a reputed £4.5 million, plus $1 million in salary annually.
Barkas failed to secure a regular berth in the starting lineup for the Scottish giants, therefore the deal did not work out as planned for any of the parties involved.
He appeared in just five more Premiership games after starting nine of the team’s first ten. He also spent 16 games on the bench.
Between the sticks, Scott Bain became Lennon’s go-to choice when the Scottish stopper stopped 69% of the shots he faced in 18 league games in the 2020–21 season.
Barkas, on the other hand, was deemed “awful” by analyst Frank McAvennie for saving just 60% of the attempts on his goal in 15 Premiership matches, indicating that he was not talented enough to start over Bain.
Following his signing, Hart played in just one league game for Celtic that season, giving up one goal and making zero saves. Hart was a goalkeeper for Greece.
Total cost to Celtic of Barkas
For the 2022–2023 season, the Hoops sent him on loan to FC Utrecht in the Netherlands; however, it is unclear how much the Hoops paid for his salary.
Celtic saved £1 million the previous season, if his wage was paid in full, but they still had to pay the left-footed flop £2 million in salary for his first two years in Glasgow, on top of the £4.5 million they paid AEK to sign him in 2020.
In order to allow him to leave for Utrecht on a free transfer, the Scottish giants then terminated his contract one year early in the summer of 2023, having originally signed a deal until 2024.
| 22/23 Eredivisie | Vasilis Barkas |
|---|---|
| Appearances | 32 |
| Save success rate | 68% |
| Pass success rate | 69% |
| Clean sheets | Ten |
| Stats via Sofascore | |
Given that the Dutch team did not have to pay anything to recruit Barkas, it follows that Celtic did not get any compensation for him when they ended their permanent relationship with him at the conclusion of the 2022–2023 campaign.
Lennon, therefore, had a nightmare with that signing as the Greek behemoth drained the Hoops of at least £6.5 million in wages and transfer fees combined, failed to live up to expectations on the pitch and had his contract terminated early.
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