FC BARCELONA
Barça's goal 2025/26: a 'puzzle' with four goalkeepers
Published:21/06/2025 - 04:31h
Updated:21/06/2025 - 04:32h
Joan García shakes up Barça's goal: with four goalkeepers on the payroll, the club must choose its starter and shed ballast as soon as possible
The work in the sports dome of FC Barcelona is incessant. Now, with the incorporation of Joan García until 2031, the culé team must release at least two names related to the goal, since it currently has four goalkeepers of good level.
Everything points to Joan García being the one who, in principle, will take the starting position under the three sticks. But the task will not be easy for the technical management facing the 2025/26 season. It is no longer just about the starter and substitute; now the name (or names) referring to the goalkeeper demarcation must be added to the discussion table, which are no longer counted in Can Barça.
Marc-André ter Stegen wants to stay
In this sense, in addition to García, Barcelona (for now) has Marc-André Ter Stegen, Wojciech Szczęsny and Iñaki Peña in its team. In turn, according to the latest rumors, the German goalkeeper would not be willing to leave the club, while with the other two the issue looks a little different.
The player from Mönchengladbach has what it takes to back up his alleged refusal to a possible departure, since he has a contract with Barça until June 30, 2028. He also believes that he can recover his level and compete for the starting position with any of his teammates.
Szczęsny and Iñaki remain on the sidelines
As for the Polish goalkeeper, it is expected that he will end up renewing his contract with Barcelona for at least one more year. The Catalan team would like to place the optional 1+1 among the terms.
Given the club's intention, the Warsaw native is aware that both the sports management and the technical staff value him greatly, especially for his leadership.
Now, rumors from Poland assert that 'Tek' would be willing to sign a renewal, but they do not expose how long the goalkeeper would like to continue playing under the azulgrana goal, since when his incorporation to Barcelona was finalized, he had to come out of retirement.
In relation to Iñaki Peña, the issue would be less complex than with Ter Stegen, since the youth player would not be in the club's future plans and already knows the situation. Added to this, his golden opportunity would have been after the German's injury against Villarreal on matchday 6 of LaLiga EA Sports, and even so the culés hired Szczęsny, who ended up being the starter after gaining competitive rhythm.
The Alicante native's contract ends in the summer of 2026 and he would not be interested in waiting for his contract to expire. According to the latest information, different teams such as Galatasaray, Sevilla, Valencia and Celta de Vigo would have been interested in the '13'.
Kochen, Astralaga and Yaakobishvili: Who will be the third goalkeeper?
Unless there is a surprise, if the departure of two of the three goalkeepers who were already there before the arrival of Joan García is confirmed, the third goalkeeper would be the American of Venezuelan roots, Diego Kochen.
However, there are also the names of Ander Astralaga (who could leave on loan, since he has a contract until 2026 with the option of extending it for two years) and Áron Yaakobishvili.