The groundbreaking paradigm shift in Barça's goalkeeping

BarcelonaTer Stegen is unlikely to join the select group of six goalkeepers who, throughout the history of the Champions League, have managed to exceed 100 matches in the top continental club competition (Casillas, Neuer, Buffon, Cech, Valdés and Khan). While the German goalkeeper holds the upper hand – his contract expires in two seasons, in 2028 – the Blaugrana team celebrated this Friday in a private ceremony at the club offices the signing of Joan Garcia's contract. The former Espanyol player will sign a deal for the next six seasons, until June 30, 2031. In this way, and after the player from Sallent paid the 25 million euro release clause in La Liga With a buyout plus the CPI, Barça signs the best goalkeeper in the competition.

For its part, Espanyol hasn't sat idly by and, just 24 hours after dismissing Joan Garcia with a brief statement (just 21 words), the blue and white club announced the signing of Marko Dmitrovic for the next three seasons. Last season, at Leganés, he was the goalkeeper with the third most saves in La Liga. He arrives on a free transfer and will compete with Àngel Fortuño for a starting position. He is 33 years old and also has experience at teams like Eibar and Sevilla. He has played a total of 196 La Liga matches, in addition to 19 international matches with the Serbian national team. In this way, Espanyol is reluctantly but successfully exchanging youth for experience in goal.

For its part, the Barça sports leadership invites Ter Stegen (33 years old, the same as Dmitrovic) to leave and, thus, save his high salary and be able to register, apart from the longed-for signing of Nico Williams, his replacement in goal. The relationship between the German and the Catalan is expected to be complicated, because while Joan Garcia wants to be a starter at 24, who turned 24 a month and a half ago, the current Barça captain doesn't tolerate competition very well, as was the case with Claudio Bravo, Neto, and Cilessen. Iñaki Peña has never been a threat to a goalkeeper who, alongside Lewandowski, was key in Xavi Hernández's 2022-23 La Liga title.

The paradigm in goalkeeping at the other big clubs in Europe

Now, with the signing of a young goalkeeper with a strong present and future, the Blaugrana team is changing the paradigm between the sticks. And what about the other big clubs in Europe when it comes to goalkeeping? Do they rely on young players with potential to compete in national competitions and the Champions League, or do they opt for veteran status?

In La Liga, Barça's main rivals both have goalkeepers over thirty. At Real Madrid, despite the occasional role of Andrí Lunin (26 years old) due to Thibaut Courtois' injuries, the Belgian is the lord and master of the goal, having turned 33 in May. At Atlético de Madrid, the starter is Jan Oblak (32), although, within the usual summer transfer window rumors, some English media outlets are considering the signing of Emiliano Martínez from Aston Villa as his replacement this summer. The Argentine is a year older than Oblak: he'll turn 33 in September.

The same trend continues for the reigning Premier League champions, Liverpool: Alisson Becker will turn 33 in October, but the English side already secured a future signing last season: Georgian Giorgi Mamardashvili, who will turn 25 in September and who remained at Valencia on loan last season. Runners-up Arsenal are not too different in their bid for Catalan forward David Raya, who will turn 30 in September. At City, Ederson Moraes remains the first-choice player and will turn 32 in August. At times during the campaign, Stefan Ortega Moreno challenged him for a starting spot. The German of Spanish descent will be 33 in November. The youngest goalkeeper is fourth-placed Chelsea: Robert Sánchez will turn 27 in November, with Filip Jörgensen (23 in April) a threat.

Serie A champions Napoli have Alex Meret in goal, who turned 28 in March. Champions League runners-up and finalist Inter Milan, on the other hand, have the experienced Yan Sommer. Barça's nightmare in the last Champions League semi-finals will turn 37 in December. The oldest goalkeeper at Europe's top clubs is Bayern Munich's Manuel Neuer, who turned 39 in March. In contrast, French and Champions League champions PSG's goalkeeper is defender Gianluigi Donnarumma, who celebrated his 26th birthday in February. If Joan Garcia starts, Barça will have one of the youngest goalkeepers at any of Europe's top clubs.