Espanyol is upset, Ter Stegen is perplexed.
Barcelona’s first transfer move was the acquisition of Espanyol goalkeeper Hoan Garcia. Over the past year, the 24-year-old has attracted interest from Arsenal, Newcastle, Aston Villa, and several other English clubs. Espanyol would surely even welcome such a move, as Barcelona has become an alternative—a non-trivial route to the Catalan capital. Igor Korneev last moved directly from Espanyol to Barcelona in 1994, seven years before Garcia was born.
The goalkeeper understood that a wave of hatred from Espanyol’s sworn enemies could drown him out. Therefore, he prudently closed his social media comments. But the temptation to stay in the city was too great, and the situation was too great, and to join the champions and the promising team.
Barcelona Motivation
But why did Hanse need another goalkeeper? When the coach, along with the sporting director, and the team office studied the team’s needs during the transfer window, this position did not rise to the top of the list. Except for certain positions, more depth and competition are needed. Deco stated that, first of all, for example, something should be done about the dependence on Refignit and Lamin Yamal, by finding suitable understudies for them.
There’s a need for a defender. But that’s not a priority either. There are longer-term goals that are always on the mind. Of course, we’re talking about the central striker. Robert Lewandowski is 37 in the summer, and his contract expires next year. Along the same lines, the goalkeeping issue. It opened up after Marc Andre Ter Stegen’s injury, which he suffered last September after several months. Perhaps that cost the team a Champions League victory.
The last time Barcelona was led into the goalkeeping position nine years ago, Ter Stegen was established as the main goalkeeper. Since then, Jasper Sillesen, Zordi Masip, and recently Injaches, the stumps have served as second fiddle. Any hopes of the strikers moving into the starting lineup evaporated when, following Ter Stegen’s injury, the club asked for the return of Schell Wojiece, who had retired from playing.
Ter Stegen managed to recover until the end of the season and even played in a few matches, but Barcelona had already considered finding a new goalkeeper by then. However, he was not required for the starting lineup.
Barcelona conceded 39 goals in 38 matches against Los Angeles last season. That’s more than any other team in the top four. But it’s in the Champions League that the importance of the elite goalkeeper has become particularly evident. In 14 European Cup matches, Barcelona has conceded 24 goals. Including seven in the semi-final against Inter. In the first match, which ended 3-3, Milan’s XG was around 0.84. In a 4-3 victory over Inter, the metric was roughly the same: 2.24 to the Catalans’ 2.81. The difference, therefore, has grown in line with what Jan Zommer and Schell have said.
Of course, there is a nuance. It is that Barcelona plays with a very high and adventurous defense line, which creates very difficult situations for goalkeepers if they miss. However, in the later stages of the tournaments, the number of saves increases. And the club felt that improving the goalkeeper’s position could address some of the problems.
Garcia’s Uniqueness
Garcia’s play attracted attention last season. By most standards, he was the best goalkeeper in Los Angeles. There were some standout performances, for example, the 1-0 win over Real Madrid, two penalty saves in the game against Mallorca, and so on. No goalkeeper in the league made more saves (145), and only two had the best save rate—73.6%. These were Unai Simon of Athletic and Jan Cloud of Atletico. In the gaol, for example, it was 63.6%, in the stump—65.5%.
Thanks to this, Garcia has become the league’s top goalkeeper preventer – 8.4. All Barcelona goalkeepers are far from that. In nine seasons, Ter Stegen has only once surpassed Garcia as the main goalkeeper; he scored 9.15 points in the 2022/23 season. Then, the Catalans won the league and haven’t missed a goal in 26 games, repeating the record.
However, this doesn’t mean Garcia will definitely succeed at Barcelona. Even by goalkeeping standards, he’s a relatively late bloomer at the top level. At Espanyol, Hoan became the starting number just over a year ago – he helped the team return to the top flight, and last season was his first at the top level. By the way, Arsenal showed interest in Garcia a year ago, but he decided to stay at Espanyol.
But at Barcelona, he’ll have a completely different job. And it’s not so much about the number of goals as it is about concentration and quality. Last season, they scored 197 goals against Espanyola. Only Valkano had more goals – 210 goals. But Barcelona has a minimum score – 112 goals. Here, the price of each goal reaches a new level. You can endure the entire game, but you’ll have to save up for the only difficult key episode.
Furthermore, Barcelona’s goalkeeper shouldn’t just save. Their footwork is also very important. And here, the Blaugrana’s style isn’t the same as Espanyol’s. Last season, Garcia only ranked 14th in terms of pass accuracy (66.9%), while stumps and cheesecakes took first and second place with 87.5%. Of course, this is largely due to how these controls are played and what programs are used. But it also says that Garcia hasn’t shown a different style.
Nevertheless, Garcia is very good in many other respects. And this hasn’t gone unnoticed. That’s why Barcelona didn’t hesitate and took advantage of the compensation amount, which amounted to only €25 million. Espanyol signed him in 2023, and it was unlikely they thought he would be below market value after a few years.
What’s next?
Barcelona currently has four goalkeepers: Garcia, Ter Stegen, Schell, and Pena. Sources indicate that the club is definitely expecting the latter to leave. At the same time, it’s hoped Schell will accept a new contract offer. Wojciech himself wants to wait and see how Ter Stegen performs so as not to become “the third extra.”
Mark-Andre’s position isn’t easy. There’s already pressure, similar to what Frenki de Jong experienced when they tried to “squeeze” him into the club several years ago at Manchester United. There are rumors of discontent, and of his negative influence on the dressing room as captain, etc. Barcelona would probably prefer to part ways with the 33-year-old goalkeeper, but Ter Stegen is sure he can remain the number one.
He wants to be the German national team’s main goalkeeper at the next World Cup, so he really needs practice. This could take him out of Catalonia. But Mark Andre believes in his strength. Moreover, he’s settled in well in the city, he’s familiar with the situation, and he doesn’t want to change it. And his contract runs until 2028. Barcelona can’t easily break it if something happens.
They’re talking about interest in him from Monaco, Galatasaray, and clubs in Saudi Arabia, but these options don’t appeal to the player. He’ll keep fighting. And he probably hopes that Garcia’s adaptation to the new playing conditions won’t be perfect. In any case, it will be interesting to see how this competition develops.
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