Financial details come to light as Sheffield United and Celtic transfer negotiations collapse

Sheffield United’s attempts to sign Celtic outcast Vasilis Barkas were thwarted due to the Scottish club’s financial demands over the deal, according to the Daily Mail – via the Daily Record.

The Blades have been searching for a new goalkeeping addition following the termination of Robin Olsen’s loan from AS Roma, which allowed the Sweden international to join Steven Gerrard’s Aston Villa.

Paul Heckingbottom turned his attentions to 27-year-old Barkas, who joined Celtic in July 2020 from AEK Athens for a fee of £5 million, however following that he appeared just 15 times in the Scottish Premiership last season and had to share game-time with Scott Bain.

United were keen to strike a deal this month for Barkas though, only to find the Hoops’ demands for the Greece international unreasonable.

Celtic wanted not only a loan fee but also for the Championship side to pay the majority of Barkas’ wages, as well as include an optional clause of a permanent move in the summer for £2.5 million that was too high for United’s liking.

Heckingbottom instead opted to swoop for Stoke City’s Adam Davies instead following this – a player who he knows well from his time managing Barnsley.

The Verdict

Barkas doesn’t have a future at Celtic Park with Joe Hart the first-choice at the club now, but they aren’t making it easy for him to depart in search of regular football.

Of course the Scottish side have a right to demand what they want but they may have to lower what they want financially if they are to get the Greek stopper out of the door.

He could have potentially been a good addition to the Blades’ ranks and he’s a few years younger than both Davies and current first-choice Wes Foderingham.

But it appears that they’ve moved on from Barkas