While it seems that the main news at Can Barça is the signing of a striker after Nico Williams turned them down, in the background there is still the ongoing issue of the goalkeeper. Barcelona want to end this ‘war’ as they currently have four goalkeepers in their first-team squad, which is a lot, and they want to offload two of them. Obviously, with the recent signing of Joan García and Szczesny’s two-year contract extension, it will be Marc-André Ter Stegen and Iñaki Peña who will have to leave the Camp Nou in this transfer window.
Barcelona’s first signing this season was Joan García. The Azulgranas did not overlook the young Catalan goalkeeper’s impressive season with Espanyol. It should not be forgotten that the Sallent de Llobregat native played his first season in the top flight of Spanish soccer and had an exceptional campaign, attracting the attention of the big clubs in Europe.
In the end, it was Barça who came out on top after paying his release clause to LaLiga, which amounted to €25 million. Moving from Cornellá to Camp Nou has not gone down well with the Espanyol fans, who have branded him a traitor after he swore eternal love for the blue and white colors only to end up at their biggest rival.
We will see how he is received at the RCDE Stadium when Joan García steps onto the pitch wearing the Barcelona shirt, because he will do so, as one of the conditions for joining the Blaugrana was that he would not be loaned out and would become the starting goalkeeper for the team coached by Hansi Flick, something that they will have had to accept.
Overbooking in goal
This signing was unexpected at the beginning of the summer, as Marc-André Ter Stegen had recovered from injury and was set to return to the starting line-up, but now everything has gone wrong for the German, who is one of the team’s captains. The arrival of a first-choice goalkeeper like Joan García, plus Szczesny’s two-year contract extension, put the German on the way out, with several suitors already lining up in this transfer window, but at the moment, he does not want to leave Barcelona.
As if that weren’t enough, Iñaki Peña, who started as the first-choice keeper after Ter Stegen’s injury but ended up being relegated to the bench with the signing of Szczesny, also has to find a new team. The Alicante-born player is not short of suitors, but he also wants to move to a project that convinces him and where he can also be important, as he feels ready to take the leap and take over the goalkeeping duties at a team rather than continue warming the bench.
Joan García gains ground
It will be next Sunday, July 13, when the players of Barcelona begin their medical examinations prior to the preseason, but at the Joan Gamper Sports Complex, they were perplexed to see Joan García show up there on Tuesday to begin training with the Barça crest on his chest.
As if that weren’t enough, Joan García also went to the club’s sports facilities on Wednesday to continue his preparation, and on this occasion he also coincided with some of his future teammates, such as Ronald Araújo and Marc Bernal. With this gesture of coming to train during his vacation, the goalkeeper wants to win over Hansi Flick and, in the process, portray Ter Stegen as having just lost this first battle against the German coach, although we will have to wait and see how this ‘war’ ends.