Barcelona are preparing to double down on their stance over Wojciech Szczesny’s future at the club in 2025.
Hansi Flick appears to have torn up his original plan for the Polish veteran since the start of 2025 as he now looks to be his first choice in goal.
The former Bayern Munich boss had indicated his intention was to start Szczesny in European action with Inaki Pena remaining as his league No.1.
However, that changed last month, despite some highly questionable performances from the former Arsenal stopper across multiple competitions.
He conceded a penalty, and clattered into Alejandro Balde to allow another goal, in the wild UEFA Champions League win at Benfica, but Flick has stuck by him.
Things have improved slightly, with five successive starts, and back-to-back clean sheets against Alaves and Valencia in La Liga and the Copa del Rey.
The switch has caused frustration for Pena who is rumoured to be reconsidering his intentions to sign a contract extension due a ‘broken promise’ from Flick.
On the other hand, Szczesny could see his own bond extended beyond the current campaign, with the club prepared to open extension talks in the coming weeks.
As per the latest update from Diario Sport, Szczesny’s current runs out at the end of the 2024/25 season, but Barcelona want to increase that until June 2026, as Marc-Andre ter Stegen feels his way back into action following a lengthy injury lay-off.
There is no immediate hurry over a renewal, with Szczesny not in line to receive any other offers from rival clubs, and Barcelona focused on the season run-in.
The 34-year-old is expected to start between the posts in Barcelona’s weekend La Liga trip to Sevilla, as Pena ponders when his next chance will arrive under Flick, and Szczesny continues to seize his unexpected opportunity for La Blaugrana.
