Hansi Flick chooses a different path for Barcelona goalkeeper prospect Iker Rodríguez | OneFootball

One of the decisions that Hansi Flick will have to make going into the next season will be to pick the third goalkeeper for FC Barcelona. Joan Garcia is set to remain the starting goalkeeper going forward, while Wojciech Szczesny will be his backup.

Diego Kochen and Ander Astralaga were the third-choice goalkeepers during Flick’s first season in charge of the Blaugrana team, and last season, the German coach relied mainly on Kochen for this role, even though Eder Aller was also called up for some games. Kochen and Astralaga have already left the Blaugrana club this summer.

In this preseason, one young goalkeeper training under Flick is Iker Rodriguez, who is considered to be the most complete goalkeeper in the club’s youth ranks. The youngster is yet to make his debut for Barca Atletic, but some recent reports have suggested that he could be one of the candidates for this third-choice goalkeeper role in the first team.

However, according to Mundo Deportivo, Flick is not counting on the youngster to remain a permanent part of the first team. This is mainly because he does not want to repeat the mistake he made with Kochen, as the American goalie remained with the first team as the third-choice goalkeeper, and did not get to play a lot of competitive minutes, thus drastically affecting his development.

Going forward, the plan for Iker Rodriguez is to join Barca Atletic, where he will compete with Eder Aller and Max Bonfill for the position between the sticks.

Meanwhile, he will also train with the Barcelona first team whenever the opportunity arises, and might also get to play some matches under Hansi Flick. However, his primary team will remain Barca Atletic, and this decision has been made only keeping his continued growth and development in mind.