Joan Garcia leaves Espanyol to join city rivals Barcelona | OneFootball

Barcelona have officially announced the long-anticipated signing of Spanish goalkeeper Joan Garcia from city rivals Espanyol

The deal was confirmed on Tuesday afternoon, with the Catalan club activating the €25 million release clause in Garcia’s contract.

The 24-year-old has penned a contract that will keep him at Barça until 2031.

Garcia played a key role in helping Espanyol secure promotion from the Second Division in the 2023/24 season.

In the following campaign in LaLiga, he stood out with 142 saves - more than any other goalkeeper in the league. Across Europe’s top five leagues, only Brentford's Mark Flekken managed more, with 150.

He also boasted the third-best save percentage in LaLiga at 73.71%, behind only Unai Simón (77.42%) of Athletic Club and Jan Oblak (74.14%) of Atlético Madrid.

Garcia is widely expected to take over as Barcelona’s first-choice keeper, ahead of both Marc-André ter Stegen and Wojciech Szcz?sny. In fact, it’s looking increasingly likely that the German could be on his way out of the club during this transfer window.