Future of Barcelona veteran hinges on teammate’s transfer decision | OneFootball

Barcelona are firmly in the planning phase for next season, with Director of Football Deco making calls on how they will approach the summer transfer window. However much of Deco’s work will involve moving parts, complicating matters.

It is believed that the Blaugrana will target the number nine position and a central defender when it comes to reinforcements, and there is an expectation that their pursuit of those additions could provoke sales. Already it has been revealed that Deco intends to sell Marc Casado and Ferran Torres this summer.

Barcelona happy with Wojciech Szczesny

One player who Barcelona are happy with is Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny. Signed in emergency circumstances last season, the 35-year-old played a key role in Barcelona securing the Copa del Rey and La Liga titles last season, in the absence of Marc-Andre ter Stegen through injury. This season he has made 10 appearances in place of Joan Garcia during his injury struggles.

Sport say that Barcelona are happy with Szczesny’s work as the back-up goalkeeper, and that the unanimous opinion of him in Can Barca is positive. That includes goalkeeping coach Jose Ramon de la Fuente. They have an option to terminate his deal this summer, with a year left on his contract, but it is not ruled out that he could continue as the back-up next season.

Szczesny future hinges on ter Stegen

The decision will hinge on what ter Stegen decides to do though. The German goalkeeper has missed the majority of the past two seasons through injury, and has two years left on a lucrative contract. If he decides to stay, then it is expected that ter Stegen will be the back-up, and thus Szczesny would likely leave. Should he seek game time elsewhere, an option Barcelona are in favour of, then that opens the door for the Polish goalkeeper to stay.

The Blaugrana have also considered promoting 20-year-old Diego Kochen, and signing a back-up goalkeeper, with Alex Remiro their primary option in that event. Given the signing of Remiro is down their priority list, and he would be an added expense, that only seems likely if the Catalan giants have space in their salary limit once their main targets are secured.