Barkas signs four-year deal with Celtic
Vasilis Barkas has completed his transfer to Celtic from AEK, signing a four-year contract with the reigning Scottish champions.
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Celtic released this following statement on Thursday afternoon:
“Celtic Football Club are delighted to announce the signing of Greek international goalkeeper, Vasilis Barkas, who has joined the club on a four-year deal from AEK Athens.
“The 26-year-old, who has been capped 10 times by Greece, has spent the past four years with AEK. And he already has experience of playing at Paradise, having been in the AEK Athens side which took on Celtic in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League back in 2018.
“The sides drew 1-1 in Glasgow, with Callum McGregor scoring for the Hoops, with the Greeks winning 2-1 in Athens to progress to the play-off round.
“Vasilis becomes Celtic’s second Greek player, following in the footsteps of Georgios Samaras, who spent five-and-a-half-years with the Hoops, making 253 appearances and scoring 74 goals.
“Everyone at Celtic welcomes Vasilis to the club and wishes him every success in the years ahead.”
“I’m very happy, this was my dream to join such a large team, one of the biggest in Europe,” stated Barkas when speaking to Celtic. “I remember the atmosphere at Celtic Park when I played for AEK, it was something extraordinary. It’s very difficult to play with fans at the moment, but I will wait until they return soon. I have come here to win the 10th championship in a row and to go as far as we can in the Champions League. I like pressure and playing in the derby matches.”
Reports have revealed that Celtic agreed to pay AEK in the region of five million euros for Barkas. A further one million will subsequently be added in bonuses.
AEK will also retain a 10% resale rate.
Barkas, 26, was a superb performer for AEK over the course of his four-year spell with the Enosi after joining the club from Atromitos. The Greek international notably won the 2017/2018 Super League with AEK and participated in the 2018/2019 UEFA Champions League group stage.
The commanding goalkeeper is poised to make his Celtic debut on Sunday against Hamilton at home on matchday one of the 2020/2021 Premiership campaign.
