Barcelona lost star goalkeeper and captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen to a torn patellar tendon in his right knee, casting doubt on the German international’s future in Catalunya.
We won’t know about ter Stegen’s long-term status until after the 2024/25 season, but Barcelona have already signed a big-name player to replace him in goal in Wojciech Szczesny, coaxing the former Serie A star out of retirement.
Szczesny hasn’t had a save percentage below 71 since joining Roma in Serie A in the 2015/16 season, and he remained one of the best goalkeepers in the league last season for Juventus with a save percentage of 74.1.
According to a report from Relevo, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick plans on immediately starting Szczesny in goal, reducing homegrown talent Inaki Pena to the status of a backup player.
Szczesny is a proven commodity, and he was arguably better than ter Stegen last season. The three-time Serie A champion with Juventus has a winning pedigree, too, which helps his case from a Barcelona standpoint.
But Relevo also report that Barcelona would still like to sign another goalkeeper in the January 2025 transfer window, and that’s where ter Stegen has to watch out, because Barca could sign a more long-term goalkeeper.
In that case, Barca would be signing a direct replacement for the German, whereas Szczesny is a stopgap, half-season replacement. Someone like Porto breakout star Diogo Costa could be a dream get, while Las Palmas’ Alex Valles could be an internal La Liga standout on the list of possible long-term ter Stegen replacements.
It’s a difficult situation for Barcelona to be in, but, so far, Flick and the club have handled it very well by bringing in a top keeper in Szczesny and yet still remaining vigilant with watching out for market opportunities in January who can help the Blaugrana beyond the 2024/25 campaign.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.