Vasilis Barkas

Vasilis Barkas (Greek: Βασίλης Μπάρκας; born 30 May 1994) is a Greek professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Greece national team. He was born in the Netherlands to Greek parents.

Vasilios Barkas
Personal information
Full name Vasilios Cornelius Barkas
Date of birth (1994-05-30) 30 May 1994
Place of birth Zetten, Netherlands
Height 1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)
Position(s) Goalkeeper
Club information
Current team
 Celtic
Number 1
Youth career
2006–2013 Atromitos
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2016 Atromitos 13 (0)
2016–2020 AEK Athens 80 (0)
2020– Celtic 12 (0)
National team‡
2012–2013 Greece U19 6 (0)
2015–2016 Greece U21 8 (0)
2018– Greece 13 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 19:22, 03 January 2021 (UTC).
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 17:48, 12 November 2020 (UTC).

Club career

Atromitos

Barkas signed a professional contract with Atromitos in the beginning of 2013–14 season. He made his debut on 20 May 2015 against PAOK, as an 83rd minute substitute for Andrey Harbunow. The 2015–16 season didn't start well for him as he was the back-up goalkeeper. On 30 January 2016, he started as regular against PAOK making an excellent appearance.[1] After that, he became the first-choice goalkeeper of the club.[2]

AEK Athens

When the 2015–16 season ended, Aston Villa, Olympiacos, PAOK and AEK were interested in signing the player.[3] On 9 June 2016, he signed for AEK.[4][5] The officials of AEK decided to not complete the transfer of Georgian international goalkeeper Giorgi Loria and start the 2016–17 season with Giannis Anestis and Barkas duo. The new manager of the Greek club, Temur Ketsbaia, finally chose to abandon the chase of his experienced compatriot, because the 25-year-old Anestis and 22-year-old Barkas are equally talented and had proved their quality in Superleague and Greek Cup. On 27 November 2016, in a 3–0 home win against Platanias Barkas made his debut for the club.

On 20 July 2017, Barkas suffered a serious injury during training, when he broke the thumb of his right hand. He was expected to remain out of action for three months, missing the upcoming 2017–18 UEFA Champions League qualifiers against CSKA Moscow, where Giannis Anestis was expected to take his place.[6] On 29 November 2017, he recovered from his injury taking his place in the team as a starter in a 3–2 away Greek Cup win against Kallithea, after Giannis Anestis was frozen out and shared goalkeeping duties with Panagiotis Tsintotas in the Super League while participating in all knockout cup fixtures.[7]

On 7 June 2018, Barkas agreed to a contract extension with AEK, until the summer of 2022.[8] On 22 June 2018 the administration of the team rejected a €6,000,000 offer from Udinese, asking for a minimum fee of €10,000,000.[9] After returning from injury, Barkas' form was a highlight for AEK and he made some very impressive saves in the qualifiers against Celtic and MOL Vidi in the UEFA Champions League preliminary rounds. During his 2018–19 season, Barkas made 41 appearances across all competitions, conceding 34 goals and tallying 22 clean sheets, his best season so far.

On 10 August 2019, Montpellier made two official offers for the Greek international, but AEK rejected both of them, setting a price tag of €8,000,000.[10] In the 2019–20 season, he registered 10 clean sheets in 20 games of the domestic championship, helping AEK recover from a disastrous start to the campaign.

Celtic

In July 2020, Celtic paid AEK a £5 million fee plus future incentives.[11] Barkas signed a four-year contract with the Scottish Premiership club[12] after Fraser Forster turned down a return to Celtic. On 9 August 2020, Barkas made his debut against Kilmarnock, replacing Scott Bain, after Celtic's coach Neil Lennon confirmed that he had been training well. On 25 October 2020, Barkas has dropped out of the starting XI, after back-to-back defeats against Rangers and Milan and Scott Bain started in his place in the 3–3 away draw game against Aberdeen.[13]

International career

Barkas has played for Greece U19 and Greece U21, making six appearances for the U19s and eight for the U21s. Οn 4 June 2016, he was called by Michael Skibbe into the Greece national football team after Orestis Karnezis was injured for the friendly games against Australia.[14] On 16 March 2018, he was called up to the Greek national team for the friendly matches against Switzerland on 23 March 2018 and Egypt on 27 March 2018. On 27 March 2018, he made his debut against Egypt as a second-half substitute.

Career statistics

Club
As of 22 January 2021[15]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Atromitos 2014–15 Super League Greece 1000——10
2015–16 12080——200
Total 13080——210
AEK Athens 2016–17 Super League Greece 21010—00220
2017–18 5080—20150
2018–19 26050—100410
2019–20 28010—40330
Total 800150—1601110
Celtic 2020–21 Scottish Premiership 130001060200
Career total 1060230102201520

Honours

AEK Athens

Celtic

References
  1. "ΠΑΟΚ - Ατρόμητος 1-1". www.contra.gr.
  2. "Προγνωστικά Στοιχήματος | Όλλα για το Στοίχημα". SentraGoal.
  3. Μαρ. 2016 15:59, Επιμέλεια: Δημήτρης Σαμόλης Δημοσίευση: 09. "Και οι Άγγλοι για Μπάρκα, τι ισχύει με Άστον Βίλα". www.sport24.gr.
  4. "Σπανός: «Συμφωνία με ΑΕΚ για Μπάρκα»!". sport-fm.gr.
  5. "Φτου σας υποκριτές, τώρα θυμηθήκατε την Κορακάκη;". Sportdog.gr - Αθλητικά Νέα | Ειδήσεις | Sport.
  6. Ιουλ. 2017 22:04, Επιμέλεια: Βαγγέλης Αρναούτογλου Δημοσίευση: 20. "Σοβαρή ζημιά ο Μπάρκας". www.sport24.gr.
  7. Μπάρκας: «Ελπίζω να γίνω ξανά βασικός»
  8. "Στην ΑΕΚ μέχρι το 2022 ο Μπάρκας". Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών.
  9. ""Όχι" σε 6.000.000 ευρώ για Μπάρκα από Μελισσανίδη!" (in Greek). Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  10. ΑΕΚ: Διπλό όχι σε Μονπελιέ για Μπάρκα. www.sport24.gr. 10 August 2019.
  11. Mark Hendry. "Vasilios Barkas 'on verge of four-year Celtic deal' as AEK Athens 'accept £5million+' for goalkeeper". glasgowtimes.co.uk. Online. Archived from the original on 27 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  12. "Vasilis Barkas: Celtic sign Greece goalkeeper from AEK Athens". BBC Sport. BBC. 30 July 2020. Retrieved 30 July 2020.
  13. "Celtic line-up vs Aberdeen revealed as Neil Lennon makes Vasilis Barkas call". www.glasgowlive.co.uk. 25 October 2020. Retrieved 25 October 2020.
  14. Εθνική Ελλάδας: Άσχημα νέα με Καρνέζη – Κλήθηκε ο Μπάρκας
  15. Vasilis Barkas at Soccerway. Retrieved 31 August 2020.
  16. Celtic win fourth straight Scottish Cup as Hazard's shootout saves break Hearts, Ewan Murray, The Guardian, 20 December 2020
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