Former Celtic goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas has opened up about his challenging stint at Celtic Park, attributing much of the difficulty to the unprecedented disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Barkas, who joined Celtic from AEK Athens in 2020 for £4.5 million, had high expectations set upon his arrival. However, his time in Scotland did not go as planned, with various factors culminating in a less-than-ideal experience.
The ‘keeper has spoken about the club quite bitterly in the past, saying he wouldn’t recommend signing with the Scottish champions, but time seems to have been the healer for the Greek goalkeeper.
In an interview with World Football Index, Barkas discussed the array of challenges he faced transitioning to life in a new country amidst the global health crisis.
“It was a move that excited me at the time, but the timing was unlucky as no one knew that Covid would have the impact on things as it did. I went to another country to play outside Greece for the first time and due to the situation, players had to be in different changing rooms and stay apart from each other as much as possible.
“That meant that I was not able to have the connection with my teammates like I had at AEK before I arrived. I was also not able to enjoy the simple things such as going out for coffee as you were not allowed to with the Covid rules.
“I felt like I did not have a period to acclimatise to Scotland as I would have liked which impacted on my mental health and then in my ability to perform as I had before. People may look at me and say that it did not work out and that is true, but Celtic is a big club in European football, and I always have to thank them for what they gave me as it was my first experience of football abroad and I saw a different football culture. Sure, it did not work out for me as I would have liked but that is life, and it cannot be changed.”
It’s a transfer that just didn’t work out, but he seems to be doing well for himself now away from Celtic. He’s made several Team of the Week appearances in Holland with Utrecht and even has a few highlight reels.
