KEEPING UP THAT HIGH STANDARD AT CELTIC
Barkas fits bill to replace Forster as club scope out striker options
FOR CELTIC, two signings before the Premiership kick-off would answer one question and raise another. Vasilis Barkas, the AEK goalkeeper, will end the search for a replacement for Fraser Forster.
At 26, the Greek international arrives with a hefty price tag. As part of a £5million package — pending a successful medical — Celtic will pay £1m if they reach the Champions League. The job of Barkas is to get them there in the first place.
Thereafter, the Greek will be charged with winning the games which propel the Parkhead side to a tenth straight title.
That burden could also be shared by a new striker, whose identity has yet to be confirmed.
An opening offer for Ivan Toney of Peterborough United has been turned down. And reports of a loan move for West Ham United’s Albian Ajeti, the Swiss international striker who failed to live up to the fanfare which accompanied an £8m move to the Hammers last summer, look premature.
Signed from FC Basel after 15 goals in 35 games, Ajeti was part of the Switzerland squad which competed in the Nations League tournament 13 months ago. In London, his fall from grace was rapid.
The 23-year-old mustered just 12 appearances for the Hammers, failing to start a game in the English Premier League or score a goal. Where West Ham began negotiations with a desire to recoup their £8m, their current willingness to send Ajeti on a oneyear loan with a £5m option to buy suggests his days in East London are well and truly numbered.
Senior Celtic sources insist talk of a done deal is overplayed. Toney, a former Newcastle youngster, is another live option.
At least as intriguing as who will come in is the question of who the new Bhoy will replace.
Neil Lennon utilised a 3-5-2 formation to some effect before the suspension of last season, forging a potent pairing out of Odsonne Edouard and Leigh Griffiths.
Sent to train on his own after returning for pre-season overweight, the indiscipline of Griffiths was expected to end in his departure from the club — and it still might. Praised for his response to some strong words from his manager, however, the Scotland international looked sharp in a 3-1 win over Hibernian on Monday.
With Patryk Klimala slowly finding his feet in Glasgow, the player Ajeti looks most likely to replace is Vakoun Bayo. The Ivory Coast striker has yet to be seen in pre-season action and the arrival of a Swiss international striker — who worked closely with Celtic winger Mohamed Elyounoussi at Basel — would suggest that won’t change when Hamilton arrive at Parkhead for the Premiership curtain raiser on Sunday.
In the long term, an option to buy would make Ajeti a potential replacement for Edouard.
While selling the Frenchman before ‘the ten’ is unthinkable to supporters, Celtic’s apparent rush to sign a new striker raises obvious questions.
As well as a striker, Lennon remains in the market for an experienced central defender.
A move for a left-back is also on the cards — with Aaron Hickey of Hearts a long-term target — while
David Turnbull may yet find himself posing with a green-and-white scarf above his head officially.
A failed medical deprived the Motherwell midfielder of a move to Parkhead last summer. With recruitment chief Nicky Hammond watching him in a pre-season game against Kilmarnock at Fir Park recently, the search for a long-term number eight to replace captain Scott Brown could reach a conclusion if Turnbull can build up his form and fitness before the window closes in October.
A move for Turnbull becomes more likely if Celtic receive an offer for Olivier Ntcham which they feel unable to refuse.
In the meantime, the attention will be on the Parkhead club’s new goalkeeper. Placed on a three-man shortlist with former England No 1 Joe Hart and Scotland No 1 David Marshall, Barkas has been under scrutiny for some time.
When hopes of Forster changing his mind over a return to Glasgow abated, his size, age profile and potential resale value offered the best long-term investment.
And former Olympiacos and Panathinaikos goalkeeper Nikos Sarganis, who won 58 caps for Greece, believes Barkas is the best goalkeeper to come out of his homeland for years.
‘Vasilis is a keeper I like a lot,’ said Sarganis. ‘He’s very stable and his reactions are sharp.
‘He’s also very good with his feet, which is important now for a goalkeeper. He’s comfortable with both feet.
‘He has a presence about him which relaxes his team-mates and the AEK defenders. He comes for crosses and is good in the air and his handling technique is very good, too.
‘I think he is very consistent and that is why he has attracted a lot of interest from teams in Italy in particular. I personally told him he should go abroad to improve his all-round game. He has the potential to be one of the better keepers in European football.
‘He is a very good goalkeeper who has improved every year. He’s established himself with his country and has saved AEK many points since he arrived. I can’t recall him making many mistakes either.’
In goal for AEK Athens when the Greeks eliminated Celtic from the Champions League in August 2018, Barkas turned in strong individual displays against Bayern Munich (twice) and Benfica in the group games. Yet, without Forster, the complexion of last season would have looked very different for Celtic. A matchwinner in the Betfred Cup final victory over Rangers and a rare triumph on Italian soil against Lazio, his are big shoes to fill. Yet, since leaving Atromitos for Athens four years ago, Barkas has grown in stature as a goalkeeper. ‘For me, Vasilis will be Greece’s goalkeeper for many years in the future,’ added Sarganis. ‘He has the personality you need, the self-confidence and the respect of his team-mates. ‘Wherever he ends up, I know he will succeed.’