The name Vasilis Barkas will forever fill the Parkhead support with dread.
The Greek international arrived at the club as one of the signings who was meant to bring home the ill-fated 10th title in a row under Neil Lennon.
Now, to be fair to Barkas, he arrived at the club during one of the most unprecedented times in world history.
A global pandemic was well underway and life as everyone knew it, had changed immensely.
No social contact, separate changing rooms, separate team buses, living in a hotel and I’m pretty sure Barkas came to the country without his family.
But his form on the pitch did not reflect the fee Celtic paid for him off it, and it became quickly apparent that he wasn’t going to cut it at the club.
Twenty four appearances in total the former AEK Athens star made for the club before he was loaned out to Dutch Eredivise side, FC Utrecht.
And, surprise surprise, he is flourishing in the Dutch top tier.
So much so that Giannis Chorianopoulos claims that Utrecht would like to make the transfer permanent:
❗Vasilis Barkas has a really good season at FC Utrecht on loan from Celtic (14 matches/5 clean sheets). Utrecht will like to make the transfer permanent (summer 2023) but also other clubs are keep an eye on Greek GK 🟢@CelticFC#CelticFC #Celtic
— Giannis Chorianopoulos (@choria80) November 8, 2022
And even better news is that should Utrecht find that they cannot afford Barkas, the Greek journalist reckons that there are other clubs keeping an eye on him.
Look, I wish the player no ill will, the sooner he finds a club that can match his expectations in terms of playing time, ambition and wage the better for him.
Let’s hope, for his sake and ours, that it happens before his loan period at Utrecht expires and we can all move on from that sorry saga.