In Barcelona it is the day of Wojciech Szczesny. The Polish goalkeeper has retraced his steps and, after announcing his retirement from playing football last August 27, at the age of 34 he decided to put his gloves back between the Barça posts. The last match played by the expert goalkeeper was on 21 June, during his Poland’s defeat against Austria at Euro 2024 (1-3). Then, a long summer flirtation with various interested clubs (the last big club to try in Europe was Villarreal), which however led to the most unexpected choice: farewell to football. Either Juve or nothing.
A farewell that actually lasted less than a month, given that Szczesny was convinced by Deco and Laporta (as well as by his friend and compatriot Lewandowski) to dive back into the fray and move to La Liga. Szczesny, who is currently undergoing medical examinations, will have the task of replacing Ter Stegen, who will be out for the next 8 months following the rupture of his patellar tendon and the surgery he underwent a week ago. Although Flick showed total trust in Iñaki Peña, the Barça coach also clarified the need to sign a goalkeeper with more CV, given that at the moment Iñaki Peña’s replacements are Astralaga (20 years old) and Kochen (18), also ‘he’s out for a month. Hence the idea of trying to change the mind of the former Arsenal, Roma and Juventus player, who in a few hours dissolved his reservations and accepted a contract worth 2 million euros net until June 30th.