Barcelona have lined up multiple positions that they want to address this summer, and one of those is goalkeeper. They are expected to continue with Marc-Andre Ter Stegen and Wojciech Szczesny as their first team options for the 2025-26 campaign, but there is a desire for a successor to be signed, given that they are 32 and 35 respectively.
Barcelona have the likes of Ander Astralaga and Diego Kochen in La Masia that they value very highly, but they also want someone that is more established to come in and challenge Ter Stegen in particular. And the player that they have set their sights on in recent months is just across the city, that being Espanyol’s Joan Garcia.
Garcia has been one of the best goalkeepers in La Liga this season, and this has seen the likes of Arsenal and Real Madrid register their interest ahead of the summer. And Barcelona are another club that want to sign him, although the fact that they are rivals with Espanyol would make it more difficult for them to get a deal done.
Espanyol would be open to negotiating with other clubs, but with Barcelona being their rivals, the likelihood is that they would demand his release clause, which currently stands at €30m. But according to Relevo, this would not be a problem for the Catalan giants, who would ideally pay this amount get a deal done.
The report states that Barcelona would ideally like to sign Garcia before loaning him out to a top-level European club for the 2025-26 season. But at this stand, this possibility is not considered to be realistic as they do not have the funds available to sign a player that is not deemed to a priority.
As things stand, Garcia is more likely to leave Spain this summer if he does move on from Espanyol. And this would be bad news for Barcelona, as he would be an ideal player to take over from Ter Stegen and Szczesny in 2026.
