Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny’s recent retirement could soon be cut short. Several reports now link him with a move to Barcelona as an emergency replacement the injured Marc-André ter Stegen. Barcelona suffered a blow when ter Stegen injured his knee in the match against Villarreal while claiming a cross. With Ter Stegen going down, Barcelona’s goalkeeping corps consists of Inaki Pena and Diego Kochen. Given Hansi Flick’s front-foot attacking style, it is important to have a goalkeeper he can trust between the sticks as Barcelona will give up shots just because of the way they play.
Without ter Stegen, someone who can single-handedly win games for Barcelona, it makes sense that they would want to enter the free agent market. The German has been a strong presence in net but could now miss the season, prompting Barcelona to bring Szczesny out of retirement. The former Juventus man announced his retirement less than a month ago, in a surprising move considering he is only 34, which is relatively young in goalkeeper years.
Juventus entered the next era of goalkeeping by signing Michele Di Gregorio, leaving Szczesny with limited options. By already speaking out against a departure to Saudi Arabia, and because top clubs in the world have lined up their corps, that is the reason why Szczesny retired.
“I have no shortage of money in my life. I prefer cool challenges and defending Juventus’ goal is the coolest challenge I can give myself,” says Szczesny said in an interview with TVP last summer. “I know I am and will be a Juventus player unless they don’t want me here. I am attached to this club and respect their decisions.”
Considering that, what better challenge than joining Barcelona and having a chance to win La Liga, the Champions League and more? It’s a perfect blend of desires and adding Szczesny will help soften the blow of losing ter Stegen. As a goalkeeper who saves most of the shots he should save and a few he isn’t expected to, Szczesny won’t be someone who will win Barcelona’s games on his own, but with their powerful attack he won’t either.” It’s not necessary. What he is is a player who is no stranger to playing games at the highest level and competing for the biggest trophies in club football.
Barcelona are perfect in La Liga, scoring 22 goals in six games played, of which only five were possible. That provides sufficient support for everyone in defense, but in the Champions League Szczesny will have to be at his best. It is a competition in which he has a lot of experience, while he also gets the chance to show Juventus that he still has it. The situation could not have developed better for the Polish goalkeeper, now he just has to perform.