Wojciech Szczesny will come out of retirement and join Barcelona as a replacement for first choice goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, who sustained a serious knee injury at the weekend as is likely to be sidelined for around eight months.
According to Fabrizio Romano, Wojciech Szczesny will come out of retirement and join Barcelona as a replacement for first choice goalkeeper Marc-Andre Ter Stegen. The German international suffered a serious knee injury during Blaugrana's 5-1 La Liga win away to Villarreal on Sunday and is likely to be sidelined for around eight months.
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🚨🔵🔴 Wojciech Szczesny to Barcelona, here we go! Deal in place for Polish goalkeeper to join as free agent.
Szczesny will come out of retirement to sign for Barça and replace ter Stegen on one year contract.
↪️🇵🇱 Medical tests will take place in Spain in the next days. pic.twitter.com/FClO42e6Qg
Szczesny, who only announced his retirement last month after leaving Juventus, is set to undergo a medical this week. Barcelona are able to sign a free agent due to the severity of the injury sustained by Ter Stegen, and Szczesny is reportedly set make a U turn on his retirement. The 34-year-old agreed to mutually terminate his contract with Juventus in August after a breakdown in negotiations over a move to Saudi Pro League side Al-Nassr.
The former Arsenal man played twice for Poland in their group stage exit from Euro 2024, then went on to announce his retirement. The Polis footballer has played for the likes of Brentford, Arsenal, AS Roma and Juventus. Szczesny joined Arsenal and a 16-year-old and played for their youth teams before spending one season on loan at Brentford (2009-10).
Szczesny played 181 matches for Arsenal (2008-2015) across all competitions before joining Serie A side AS Roma on a two-year loan deal. He the signed for Juventus in 2017 and went on to make 252 appearances for the Old Lady before hanging up his boots in 2024. The Polish footballer has won 11 major trophies during his career in England and Italy, while playing 84 matches for the national team and featuring in seven major tournaments.
On Wednesday night (local time), Barcelona edged past Getafe 1-0 in the La Liga. Inaki Pena, who started in goal, had little to do for most part, but when he was called upon, the 25-year-old did well to probably impress Hansi Flick. The Spaniard has always been Barca's No.2 between the sticks, but he surely deserves more of an opportunity to prove his worth.
Robert Lewandowski's lone goal in the 19th-minute ensured Barcelona won their seventh successive La Liga game of the season. Blaugrana are comfortably sitting at the summit of the table with 21 points to their name, four clear of the chasing pack. Flick's side will next play away to seventh-placed Osasuna on Saturday, before welcoming Young Boys for Champions League clash.
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