The goalkeeping position has been in a state of flux this season at FC Barcelona. The team’s starting goalkeeper, Marc Andre Ter Stegen suffered a serious injury early in the season and is set to remain on the sidelines for the rest of the season.
In his absence, the 25-year-old Inaki Pena is Hansi Flick’s starting goalkeeper. The Spaniard has been putting in reliable performances since Ter Stegen’s injury, and there have not been a lot of complaints about his performances.
However, there were some doubts about the goalkeeping position when the German goalkeeper went down with his injury, as Barcelona believed in Pena’s skills, but were worried that his substitutes did not have a lot of experience.
To deal with this situation, the Catalans signed Wojciech Szczesny, who came out of retirement to play for Barcelona.
But beyond this lack of experience, there were not really many concerns about Pena’s substitutes, as the Blaugranes have two very promising goalkeepers competing for the third goalkeeper position in the first team, Diego Kochen and Ander Astralaga.
Barcelona US goalkeeper #31 Diego Kochen looks on before the start of the Spanish league football match between FC Barcelona and UD Las Palmas at the Estadi Olimpic Lluis Companys in Barcelona on March 30, 2024.
Photo by PAU BARRENA/AFP via Getty Images
Diego Kochen is a particularly promising goalkeeper and already has 7 appearances for Barcelona Atletic this season. He rotates in this role with Astralaga, as one of them travels with the first team while the other takes his position between the sticks for the Barcelona B team.
His future projection up to now has been very encouraging, and the Catalans are keen to ensure his long-term presence in the club. In this regard, there is good news for the fans as ESPN reports that he has reached an agreement for a new contract that will go till 2028.
This is definitely good news for Barcelona fans, as Kochen’s development up to now shows that he can be a permanent part of the first team in the not-too-distant future. Hopefully, he will continue to grow and live up to his potential and maybe become the Blaugranes’ starting goalkeeper in the future.