With Marc Andre Ter Stegen’s serious injury suffered in the match against Villarreal, the goalkeeping position at FC Barcelona has come under increased spotlight in the media.
The Catalans brought in Wojciech Szczesny to replace the German in their squad, and already had Inaki Pena as a very capable option to take the injured captain’s place between the sticks.
But it is clear that the former is a very short-term option, while the latter has a lot to prove to be considered as the team’s starting goalkeeper going forward.
In such a scenario, Barcelona are also keeping their eyes on some of the options emerging in the market, and, according to Fichajes, one of the options that have now attracted their interest is the Espanyol shot-stopper, Joan Garcia.
The 23-year-old has been shining for the other Catalan side ever since its return to top-flight Spanish football and is emerging as a young goalkeeper with a lot of potential.
Thus, Barcelona are not the only side that are keeping an eye on him, as other big European clubs, including Arsenal and Real Madrid, are also pursuing the goalie. His reported €30 million release clause makes him a particularly affordable target for these interested clubs.
Meanwhile, the Blaugrana have not limited their options to Espanyol’s goalkeeper. The report claims that several other high-profile names across Europe, including Porto’s Diogo Costa, Las Palmas’ Alvaro Valles, Brighton’s Bart Verbruggen, and Werder Bremen’s Mio Backhaus, are also being considered.
For now, Barcelona are set in the goalkeeping department with the Inaki Pena and Wojciech Szczesny duo. They also have some very exciting talents coming up from the youth academy, including the likes of Ander Astralaga, Diego Kochen, and Aron Yaakobishvili.
Thus, the goalkeeping position at Barcelona looks likely to experience some more changes after the end of this season, and it will be exciting to see which goalkeepers don the Blaugrana colors for the next season when Ter Stegen will also have made his return.
