The tear of the patellar tendon that Barcelona captain Marc-Andre Ter Stegen suffered during the match against Villarreal is expected to keep him out of action for the next seven to eight months.
With his absence, Inaki Pena is expected to take on the main goalkeeping responsibilities at the Blaugrana club. However, his substitutes will only be the two inexperienced keepers, Ander Astralaga and Diego Kochen.
This is not an ideal situation for the Blaugranes, and they have decided to bring in another goalkeeper to replace the injured Ter Stegen in the coming days. As already reported, Wojciech Szczesny and Keylor Navas are the two most notable options for Barcelona, as they can bring in only a player who is currently without a club.
Both of them have a high amount of experience playing for some of the biggest clubs across Europe. Barcelona have undertaken contact with both of them, and they both have been receptive to the idea of playing for Flick’s team this season without making excessive salary demands.
However, according to Mundo Deportivo, if the decision was only on Flick, he would have chosen the Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. The veteran keeper was one of the starters for the Polish national team in the UEFA EURO 2024, while his friendship with the Barcelona superstar Robert Lewandowski can also play in his favor.
The only thing that can be a barrier to his arrival at Barcelona is his contractual situation with Juventus, with whom he still had one year on contract when he announced his retirement.
Barcelona have decided to reinforce the goalkeeping position, but for now, they will have to trust Inaki Pena before another goalkeeper is added to the squad. It remains to be seen which of these players ultimately joins the club to replace the injured Ter Stegen.
