The Pole parks his retirement in Marbella to face one last great challenge; replace Ter Stegen
BARCELONA, 2 Oct. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The veteran Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, 34 years old and retired this summer, puts aside that retirement that had him living in Marbella with his family to face one last great challenge in his sporting career, by accepting the offer from FC Barcelona to fill in, until end of this campaign, to the long-term injured Marc-André ter Stegen.
“FC Barcelona and the player Wojciech Szczesny have reached an agreement for his incorporation until June 30, 2025,” the club announced in a statement.
Szczesny, who knows Blaugrana striker Robert Lewandowski well, having actually played his last game in this summer’s Euro 2024 in Germany, reunites with the striker and lands in a group that is having a great start to the season despite the many injuries, including that of ter Stegen, which led to his arrival.
Hansi Flick assures that in his Barça no one is guaranteed ownership, but that Szczesny agrees to put aside his ‘retirement’ seems to be accompanied by a certain security that he will play games. And not that he will arrive to train every day without having access to defend the Blaugrana goal with a certain assiduity.
However, Iñaki Peña is defending the goal well since ter Stegen’s injury and, last year, he already did so quite successfully during a three-month absence from the German, who will now not play until the following season. The arrival of Szczesny should serve to increase competition, so that whoever starts gives the necessary level and, above all, to anticipate any possible new injury.
The new Blaugrana goalkeeper arrives with a lot of experience. The one provided by his previous time at Juventus in the Italian Serie A, at Arsenal in the English Premier League and the loan from the ‘Gunner’ club to AS Roma, also from ‘Calcio’. There he played important league and Champions League duels, a competition in which he saw his new teammates win from the VIP box of the Estadi Olímpic Lluís Companys, who gave a ‘little hand’ (5-0) to the Swiss Young Boys in the second day of the League Phase of the new ‘Champions’.
Szczesny, who in his day had a valuation of around 40 million euros in the market, also arrives with a good track record and with 84 international caps for Poland and 548 official matches. In his showcases there are, at an individual level, distinctions such as the best goalkeeper of the year in Italy (2020) or the best Polish footballer of the year in 2022. At the level of titles, he won 3 leagues, 3 cups and 2 super cups in Italy with Juventus, in addition to 2 FA Cup and 1 English Super Cup with Arsenal.
In this new challenge with Barça he will try to increase that record. The Blaugrana team, with Hansi Flick on the bench, has started well in LaLiga EA Sports with 7 wins (in a row) and a single defeat, while in the ‘Champions’ that win seen in first person by the goalkeeper partially fixes the defeat initial in Monaco (2-1). And there is still the Copa del Rey to be played, a competition in which Barça is the ‘king’ of the record. But, first, he must confirm with the level he gives in training that he can steal the title from Iñaki Peña.