Confirmed: Barcelona star Joan Garcia registered in La Liga with new shirt number | OneFootball

Barcelona superstar Joan Garcia has now been registered with La Liga heading into the new season with a new shirt number.

The goalkeeper, who joined from RCD Espanyol last year, will wear the No. 1 kit this season, taking over the number left vacant by Marc-Andre ter Stegen following his loan move to Ajax.

Meanwhile, veteran star Wojciech Szczesny, who wore No. 25 after joining Barcelona, will take No. 13, which was vacated by the World Cup winner after he returned to training last Sunday.

Registration sorted

Garcia’s registration this season is very different from last year’s, when Barcelona completed the process at the last possible moment.

Courtesy: La Liga official website

The Catalan club registered the goalkeeper with La Liga on the day of the opening match against Mallorca, when the 25-year-old made his competitive debut for Barça.

His registration was also possible because of Ter Stegen’s lower-back injury. La Liga’s Medical Commission determined that the German’s physical problems met the criteria for a long-term injury under the regulations.

This allowed Barça to use part of the salary-cap space freed up by Ter Stegen’s absence to register the former Espanyol goalkeeper.

This year, however, the registration has come somewhat earlier. Although the league season begins this Saturday, Hansi Flick’s team will have another week of pre-season, since ten of his players reached the World Cup semifinals.

As a result, there are still 12 days until Barcelona’s league opener, which will take place at the Estadio Manuel Martinez Valero against Elche on Sunday, August 23 at 9:30 p.m.

Garcia has worn No. 1 at Barça previously

Barcelona’s New No. 1 (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

Garcia, who is already back in training earlier than expected, will wear his new number in that match: No. 1, which he already wore during the 2025/26 pre-season and which became available after Ter Stegen’s loan move to Ajax.

Meanwhile, the No. 13 worn by Garcia last season will now belong to Szczesny. The Polish goalkeeper, who had worn No. 25 since making his Barcelona debut, will also change numbers.

The third goalkeeper in the squad, likely to be one of Aron Yaakobishvili or Eder Aller, could take the No. 25 shirt.

Meanwhile, Barcelona will soon announce the shirt numbers for new signings Anthony Gordon, Karim Adeyemi and Jesse Bisiwu, as well as players returning from loan, such as Hector Fort.