Barcelona summer signing closing in on major La Liga award | OneFootball

Everything seems to be falling perfectly into place for Joan Garcia. 

What started as a breakthrough season at Barcelona is now turning into a genuine push for one of La Liga’s most prestigious individual honours.

Fresh off his first senior call-up to the Spanish national team, the 24-year-old goalkeeper is now firmly in the race for the Zamora Trophy, awarded to the goalkeeper with the best goals conceded ratio in the league.

Numbers that tell a powerful story

As per SPORT, the Barcelona keeper has conceded just 17 goals in 22 matches, giving him an outstanding average of 0.77 goals per game. 

Interestingly, there is an important detail that keeps the race alive. Due to a meniscus injury earlier in the season, Garcia missed six matches. 

To officially qualify for the Zamora Trophy, a goalkeeper must feature in at least 28 matches, playing a minimum of 60 minutes in each.

With 10 matchdays still to go, Garcia needs to play at least six more games to meet the requirement, something that looks highly achievable if he stays fit.

Joan Garcia is the favourite to win the Zamora trophy. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

If he reaches that threshold, Garcia becomes the clear favourite. Not just because of his numbers, but because of the momentum behind him. 

Out of his 22 appearances, he has already kept 11 clean sheets, which is a remarkable return for a player in his first full season at the club.

Competition struggling to keep up

The race, as expected, is not without competition.

Thibaut Courtois remains one of the main challengers. The Real Madrid goalkeeper has conceded 24 goals in 28 matches, with an average of 0.86, although he has now been ruled out for more than a month.

Meanwhile, Atletico Madrid keeper Jan Oblak has also been in the conversation, but his campaign has been disrupted by physical issues. 

As such, he has conceded 25 goals in 26 matches, averaging 0.96 per game.

Considering all this, if Joan Garcia maintains his current level and avoids further injury setbacks, the Zamora Trophy is within reach.