Barcelona targets retired Szczesny due to Ter Stegen injury

Barcelona is reportedly trying to sign former Juventus goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. The potential move follows the unfortunate news that Marc-André ter Stegen will likely miss the remainder of the 2024/25 season. The star shot-stopper suffered a serious knee injury during Sunday’s Barca win against Villarreal. Ter Stegen endured a full tear of his patella tendon in the match.

Spanish goalkeeper Iñaki Peña entered the fray for his injured teammate at the weekend. Peña also previously filled in for the German star for a significant portion of the previous season. Ter Stegen missed 17 Barca games due to a nagging back injury. During this time, Peña kept just three clean sheets. Two of these top performances came against Osasuna.

As a team, Barca allowed an average of 1.88 goals per game with Peña between the sticks last season. The club, however, faired significantly better with Ter Stegen in goal. For instance, the Spanish side allowed 1.03 goals per match with the German as a starter. Ter Stegen also collected 17 clean sheets in 36 total games during the previous campaign.

Szczesny recently departed Juve a year earlier than expected

Peña is a solid goalkeeper, but Barca officials are looking for a possible addition to the position. Ter Stegen’s serious injury would be bad news regardless of when the setback occurred. Nevertheless, the issue is undoubtedly more of a problem considering the transfer window only just closed weeks ago. If the injury happened earlier in the current campaign, Barca could have bought a new keeper.

Instead, team officials are now scrambling to entice Szczesny out of retirement. The former Poland international only just announced that he was stepping away from the pitch less than a month ago. The decision came as Juve opted to terminate the player’s contract ahead of the 2024/25 season.

While Szczesny officially retired, he did recently claim that he was not expecting to decide for 2025. Juve’s choice to essentially cut him essentially forced the move. “I wanted to play for one more season because I felt I could still give so much, but after Juventus, I was not ready for other challenges,” stated Szczesny.

The Polish star previously collected six major trophies with Juve, including three Serie A titles. He was also named in the Italian league’s team of the season for the 2022/23 campaign.

Barcelona reportedly holds talks directly with Wojciech Szczesny

Several reports out of Spain now suggest that Barca is targeting Szczesny. Polish news outlet Meczyki even claims that the Spanish team has contacted the former goalkeeper and his agency. While talks are reportedly ongoing, the former Juve star is at least considering joining the LaLiga giants.

Szczesny’s decision to retire ahead of schedule could have been down to potentially not being a starter with a top team. Nevertheless, Ter Stegen’s unfortunate injury would seemingly give the shot-stopper one more chance with a big club. If he were to return to the pitch, he most likely could not have a similar opportunity elsewhere.

If Szczesny declines Barca’s offer, the club would have to turn to plan B. Keylor Navas and Tomas Vaclik are reportedly other options for the Spanish side. Both players, like Szczesny, are currently free agents. Navas departed Paris Saint-Germain this summer, while Vaclik most recently featured for Spanish second-tiered Albacete.

PHOTOS: IMAGO.