The saga is over: Joan García is now a Barça player. As reported in recent days, the Catalan club has paid the €25 million (€26.4 million with inflation) release clause. The Espanyol goalkeeper will sign for six seasons with the other team in Barcelona. The signing will be made official in the coming hours.
Joan García will sign for five seasons with Barça
This order has already been signed by president Joan Laporta. Now all that remains is for the money to reach LaLiga and for the competition to validate the transfer. The official announcement will then be made. Espanyol will receive €25 million for the departure of one of the cornerstones of Manolo González’s team.
According to reports, Joan wanted to resolve his future quickly, and Friday was the day chosen by Barça to pay the clause. From now on, the goalkeeper is free to sign with FC Barcelona, which will now decide when it wants to present him.
All that remains is for the clause to reach LaLiga’s offices, no later than Monday after the deal is finalized on Friday afternoon. This was important, as both the player and the club wanted to close the deal as soon as possible. In fact, according to reports in MARCA, FC Barcelona opted to bring forward the payment, as it was assumed that it would be made next week. Pending the official announcement, which is expected on Monday, Joan García will sign until 2031. No loan has been requested.
The Catalan club, coached by Hansi Flick, had been looking to sign the Espanyol goalkeeper since May 25, when their interest in the Catalan player became public. The Azulgrana had been following him after a great season, after he had been linked with several of the Big Six teams in the Premier League.
He will be Barça’s first-choice goalkeeper alongside Szczesny
Initially, as reported by GRADA3, the intention was to find him a loan move to avoid the goalkeeper having to compete with Marc-André Ter Stegen and the Polish Szczesny, who joined the club this season to cover the German’s long-term injury. However, that option has been ruled out. Joan García, who had already given the green light to the deal on June 3, will be under Hansi Flick’s orders next season after signing for six seasons, until 2031.
The Catalan arrived at RCD Espanyol at the age of 15 and wore the blue and white shirt for nine seasons. This season, he has been key to Espanyol’s survival in LaLiga. He has been one of the leaders of the Perico project and has established himself as a top-level goalkeeper.
Trained in Espanyol’s youth academy, Joan García made his first-team debut in December 2021. It was not until the 2023/2024 season, in the Second Division, that he became the first-choice goalkeeper at Cornellà-El Prat, and this season, with his saves, he has been a key player for Manolo González’s team. Joan García’s intention was to say goodbye, in one way or another, to what has been his home for the last nine years.
“Whatever happens, if I leave, I will be proud to leave the team in the First Division, that my family can continue to come to the stadium in the First Division and hopefully it will continue like this for many years,” said Joan, emotionally, after Espanyol’s last game of the season, which confirmed their survival.
He will now join one of his eternal rivals: FC Barcelona. And he will arrive amid confusion in goal. Joan García wants guaranteed playing time and assurances that he can be registered, and the club’s idea is that the goalkeeping duo will be him and Szczesny, who, although his renewal has not yet been made official, has an offer from the Catalan club on the table for one year with an option for another.
With this move, Joan García will become one of the most significant signings of the summer and will occupy a prominent place in the history of transfers in the Barça goal.