Scottish giants Celtic are reportedly interested in signing AEK Athens goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas.
Greek outlet SDNA recently reported that the Hoops have had Barkas on their shortlist over the last two years. It is thought that they are willing to pay as much as €6m (£5.4m) to sign him. However, the report claims that to trump their Old Firm rivals in the chase, they may be open to increasing what they are willing to offer.
The talk of interest in Barkas goes back to when The Scotsman included the 10-cap Greece international in their list of 11 goalkeepers that the Hoops could be looking at this summer. SDNA claims that their pursuit of Barkas is one of three potential goalkeeper signings that the club’s head of football operations, Nick Hammond, is working on.
Barkas is currently 26 and has been a regular between the sticks for AEK. He has made 24 appearances in all competitions this season, with 20 of them coming in the league and the other four coming in Europa League qualifying. In those games, he has kept 12 clean sheets (via Transfermarkt).
Should Celtic sign Barkas over Forster?
I won't mind that
Never, sign Forster
Barkas featured against Celtic last season and played in both legs of their UEFA Champions League qualifying tie in August 2018.
TIF Thoughts
Reports from the Daily Mail (via Daily Record) have stated that Celtic are looking to sign Fraser Forster on another loan deal and the Hoops are ‘hopeful’ of signing the Englishman.
If that deal does go through, roping Barkas in may not make sense. Elsewhere, Scott Bain signed a new deal in October, so spending £5.4 million on Barkas may be a risky move for the player and the club.