There have been a lot of issues in terms of injuries that have required discussion at Barcelona this season. Certain long-term problems have come to hurt the club, while other issues have been more temporary in comparison. However, the biggest decision that Barcelona had to make came by due to their goalkeeper problem.
With Marc-Andre Ter Stegen likely injured for the entirety of this season, the Catalan giants needed a way to replace one of their most important players. While the team did have Inaki Pena as an option, it seemed like the club was not completely convinced with just the Spaniard being present.
Thus, Barcelona ended up signing Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny midway through the ongoing season and the Pole ended up coming out of retirement to make the move a reality. Unfortunately for him, however, his participation could not have been any less significant than it current is.
With no official minutes played so far this season, a lot of questions are being raised over the fact if Szczesny’s arrival was even needed at all. So far this season, Hansi Flick has blindly relied on the performances of Inaki Pena and it seems like that will not be changing any time soon.
As highlighted by Fabrizio Romano, Hansi Flick made it clear in his recent press conference ahead of the La Liga clash against Mallorca that Szczesny was training well, but that he had no intentions of replacing the current starter in between the sticks for Barcelona:
“For sure Szczesny is performing really well in training… but there’s no plan to change the goalkeeper.”
While the German coach made sure to credit the Polish goalkeeper for his consistency and quality in the training sessions, it seems clear enough that Hansi Flick already has his mind made up. For most of the games, Peña’s displays have not exactly given Flick a reason to replace him, but the €8 million-rated goalkeeper’s last outing against Las Palmas definitely left more to be desired.
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MADRID, SPAIN - OCTOBER 26: Frenkie de Jong of FC Barcelona warms up prior to the LaLiga match between Real Madrid CF and FC Barcelona at Estadio Santiago Bernabeu on October 26, 2024 in Madrid, Spain.
SAN SEBASTIAN, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 10: Head coach Hansi Flick of FC Barcelona looks on prior to the LaLiga match between Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona at Reale Arena on November 10, 2024 in San Sebastian, Spain.
BARCELONA, SPAIN - NOVEMBER 30: Gerard Martin of FC Barcelona looks dejected after Sandro Ramirez of UD Las Palmas (not pictured) scores his team's first goal during the LaLiga match between FC Barcelona and UD Las Palmas at Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys on November 30, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain.
Only time will tell if the new Barcelona goalkeeper ends up making an impact at any point, but his participation looks unlikely to become a topic of discussion any time soon. Perhaps the Copa Del Ray, once Barcelona get to participate in it, could open up some new possibilities.