Barcelona have made a strong play for the crown jewel of rivals Espanyol, goalkeeper Joan Garcia, and it appears they are close to pulling off an unlikely deal. The Blaugrana have been pushing for his signature over the last two weeks, and seemingly persuaded Garcia to make the switch.
The deal with Espanyol itself was never going to be an issue, be it for Manchester City, Arsenal, Newcastle United, Barcelona or any of his other suitors. Garcia has a €25m release clause, and Los Pericos are demanding that the full clause be paid for his services. Something Barcelona plan to do as soon as they wrap up a deal with Garcia himself.
Joan Garcia gives green light to Barcelona
According to several sources, Garcia has now approved a move to Espanyol’s crosstown rivals. On Monday it was reported that Arsenal had dropped out of the race, with City seemingly their strongest competitors. The 24-year-old’s agents, who have close links with Barcelona had already agreed terms on a five-year contract.
🚨 EXCLUSIVA @10JoseAlvarez 🚨
✅ “JOAN GARCÍA le ha dado el ‘SÍ’ al BARÇA”.
🤝 “Será jugador culé en las próximas horas y firmará 5 temporadas”. pic.twitter.com/PaVhDZFKeH
— El Chiringuito TV (@elchiringuitotv) June 2, 2025
As per Santi Aouna and Jose Alvarez of El Chiringuito, Garcia has given the green light to a move to Barcelona. As per the latter, Newcastle United had agreed a deal with Garcia, but he asked to wait to see how things played out with the Blaugrana.
Barcelona’s tricky goalkeeping situation
The next part also promises to be the subject of plenty of intrigue. Already Barcelona have three goalkeepers on their books, but Inaki Pena is expected to depart. Wojciech Szczesny is slated to be their back-up next season, with Barcelona offering him a two-year extension, and the Polish veteran set to extend.
Barça will not force the departure of Ter Stegen, although Deco will talk to the German when the signing of Joan García becomes official to explain his situation. @sport
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) June 2, 2025
However with Marc-Andre ter Stegen, the situation is less clear. He has come out and explained that he has no intention of leaving Barcelona, and that he will compete to be number one. RAC1, who say that the Garcia deal is a few details from being done, say Barcelona will not pressure him to leave the club.
World Cup factor with ter Stegen?
However the unknown is how long ter Stegen will be able to go without starting football if he does lose his place. Last week it was claimed that Barcelona had offered Garcia the number one spot, and if that is the case, ter Stegen will be concerned about missing out as the starter for Germany at the 2026 World Cup – something that could influence his thinking this season.
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