Pundit Tam McManus has been talking about Vasilios Barkas and believes that the goalkeeper would suit Celtic’s transfer policy.
McManus was recently present on the latest episode of the PLZ Soccer’s The Football Show. The panel talked about many things involving Scottish football and one thing they focused on was Barkas and his links to Parkhead. McManus went on to say that signing the Greek goalkeeper would be a suitable thing for Celtic’s transfer policy.
It was recently reported that Barkas is signing a deal worth around £10,500-a-week at Celtic and AEK Athens are now expecting a new bid from the Hoops for the goalkeeper.
While talking about whether Barkas would be a good move for Celtic or not, McManus said:
“Barkas has got a great reputation in Greece. They call him ‘the Yellow Wall’. I’ve seen some of his footage on YouTube – big goalkeeper, agile, he’s quick as a flash out of his goal. He looks the part. He’s 25 years old, he’s a lot younger than [Fraser] Forster.
Who should Celtic sign?
Sign Barkas
Forster, any day
“I think from a selling point of view – and Celtic have always done this – they look to sign people who they can sell on again. Forster is a massive outlay at 7, 8, 10 million and you’re not going to get anything back. You are not going to be able to sell him again. Barkas, at that age, you can bring him in, he can really impress and you can sell him to England. That will be in the back of the mind of Peter Lawwell and the board at Celtic.”
McManus clearly feels that Barkas would fit Celtic’s approach of signing players and selling them on. Because of that, he believes that the Greek would be a better option than Fraser Forster.
TIF Thoughts…
Barkas had been a regular for AEK in the 2019/20 season, as he made 33 appearances in all competitions for the Greek club. In the league, he made 20 appearances for the side and managed to keep as many as ten clean sheets while letting in only 15 goals (via Transfermarkt).
That is a pretty good record for a goalkeeper. He is currently valued at £2.16 million by Transfermarkt and, at 25 years old, he could still improve in the future. So Celtic could sign him in the summer and, if he impresses, then potentially sell him for a higher fee in the future.
Forster reportedly earns close to £100,000-a-week at Southampton and in that sense, signing Barkas instead would be a cheaper option for the Hoops.