‘A giant’: Manager says £5m ace he signed from Celtic has ‘bizarre qual

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Celtic loanee Vasilis Barkas is making a huge impression on loan at Eredivisie outfit FC Utrecht with head coach Henk Fraser hailing the goalkeeper’s ‘bizarre quality’, in quotes reported by RTV. 

On paper at least, a 4-0 win away from home at top-flight newcomers Volendam looks comfortable. In reality, it was a more hard-fought encounter than the lopsided scoreline suggests.  

Utrecht needed Barkas to be at his very best when the game was still in the balance; the former AEK Athens’ glovesman racing off his line to make an outstanding point-blank save long before Utrecht sealed the win thanks to three goals in the final 20 minutes. 

Barkas, one of the most disappointing signings in Celtic’s recent history at around £5 million, deserves credit for the way he has bounced back in the Netherlands. His stellar form is a major reason why Utrecht go into the World Cup break in the European places. 

Vasilis Barkas reborn in the Eredivisie after Celtic exit

“At 0-2 and 0-3, he made two fantastic saves. He remains a giant,” Fraser says of Barkas following that crushing Volendam win.

They say the mark of a truly outstanding goalkeeper is when he steps up to the plate against the run of play; alert and aware enough to make key saves even in a game in which his side is dominating.

“When you have so little to do, and yet you are there,” Fraser adds. “I think that is a really bizarre quality.”

With Joe Hart firmly established as Celtic’s number one these days, and with Benjamin Siegrist a high-quality back-up, it seems unlikely that Barkas will be handed a chance to show Hoops fans what they are missing, even if his form in Utrecht is worthy of discussion.

Barkas’ Celtic contract expires in 2024. According to Harald Wapenaar, Utrecht’s goalkeeping coach, the 13-time Greece international is unlikely to stay at Stadion Galgenwald beyond this season due to the costs involved in a permanent deal. 

“(Signing Barkas permanently) is a utopia,” Wapenaar tells RTV. “He made a transfer for about eight million euros from AEK to Celtic.   

“When I saw that he was available and saw his data on the internet, I advised (technical director) Jordi Zuidam to take him.

“(Barkas) didn’t know me. I didn’t know him. And he first wanted a conversation with the goalkeeper coach (before signing for Utrecht). So then we talked for more than half an hour. That convinced him.”