There have been a lot of issues in terms of injuries that have required discussion at Barcelona this season. Certain long-term problems have come to hurt the club, while other issues have been more temporary in comparison. However, the most critical decision Barcelona faced this season stemmed from their goalkeeper situation.
With Marc-André ter Stegen likely unavailable due to a knee injury for the entirety of this season, the Catalan giants needed a way to replace one of their most important players. While the team did have Iñaki Peña as an option, it seemed like the club was not completely convinced with just the Spaniard being present.
Thus, Barcelona ended up signing Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczęsny midway through the ongoing season and the Pole ended up coming out of retirement to make the move a reality. Unfortunately for him, however, his participation could not have been any less significant than it currently is.
With no official minutes played so far this season, many questions are being raised about whether Szczęsny’s arrival was necessary. So far this season, Hansi Flick has blindly relied on the performances of Iñaki Peña and it seems like that will not be changing any time soon.
As highlighted by Fabrizio Romano, Hansi Flick made it clear in his recent press conference ahead of the La Liga clash against Mallorca that Szczęsny was training well, but that he had no intentions of replacing the current starter in between the sticks for Barcelona:
“For sure Szczęsny is performing really well in training… but there’s no plan to change the goalkeeper.”
While the German coach made sure to credit the Polish goalkeeper for his consistency and quality in the training sessions, it seems clear enough that Hansi Flick already has his mind made up.
For most of the games, Peña’s displays have not exactly given Flick a reason to replace him, but the €8m-rated goalkeeper’s last outing against Las Palmas definitely left more to be desired.
Only time will tell if the new Barcelona goalkeeper ends up making an impact at any point, but his participation looks unlikely to become a topic of discussion any time soon. Perhaps the Copa Del Ray, once Barcelona get to participate in it, could open up some new possibilities for Szczęsny.
