Barcelona finally reinforces its goalkeeper after Ter Stegen’s serious knee injury. The club, current leader of La Liga, confirmed on Wednesday the signing of Wojciech Szczesny. Iñaki Peña will have competition in goal.
The 34-year-old Polish goalkeeper has joined the Catalan club until June 2025. The goalkeeper retired this past summer, his last club was Juventus, but decided to extend his career before the call of the culé institution. Szczesny landed in Barcelona last Monday and underwent a medical. On Tuesday night he was able to watch live the victory of the culé team against Young Boys. At the Olympic Stadium he signed his first autographs to the fans of his new club and greeted his new teammates.
Although Hansi Flick defends the quality of Iñaki Peña and sees him as the starting goalkeeper during the absence of Ter Stegen (the German is unlikely to play again this season 24-25), the German coach wanted to shore up his goal with a goalkeeper with gallantry. “Iñaki is 25 years old and the rest are very young and, if something happens, we need an experienced goalkeeper. Deco and I have discussed it and thought about it,” said the former coach after the match against Getafe.
Curriculum
Szczesny has a long professional career. The goalkeeper, who played 84 matches for the Polish senior national team, played for Arsenal, Roma and Brentford. However, for the last nine seasons he played for Juventus, where he appeared in 254 matches, conceding 233 goals and keeping 103 clean sheets.
Wojciech Szczesny will share a dressing room with a great friend of his: his national teammate Robert Lewandowski.