Celtic are hopeful of offloading goalkeeper Vasilis Barkas in January, according to The Athletic's Kieran Devlin. 

The lowdown: Record breaker

Celtic signed Barkas as recently as July 2020, parting with £4.5million to recruit him from AEK Athens.

That actually made him the most expensive goalkeeper in the Hoops' history.

But after clocking up 22 appearances in his debut season, he's only featured once this term (in the first leg of the Champions League qualifier against Midtjylland back in July).

The 27-year-old still has three years to run on his contract at Parkhead, but his Transfermarkt value has fallen to £2.52million.

The latest: Time to cash in

A source in Greece has revealed (via The Athletic) Celtic want to sell Barkas in the mid-season window and if that fails, they'll look to secure a loan move.

Should he leave, Tobi Oluwayemi would likely be promoted to third choice behind Joe Hart and Scott Bain.

The verdict: Forgettable

It's no surprise that Celtic want to cash in on Barkas, who's of little use to them at the moment and on a frankly ridiculous £13,500-a-week.

However, they'll surely struggle to get much of a return on their 2020 investment after he has slipped so far down the pecking order.

Ultimately, the record move has to be regarded a failure for the previous Celtic scouting department, one that Michael Nicholson and co will have to learn from the next time they look to recruit a true no.1.

In other news, Celtic have received a boost ahead of the League Cup semifinal.