Barcelona confirmed the completion of the registration procedure for new goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to participate in the 2024/25 Champions League.
Goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who announced his retirement, has officially signed a contract with Barcelona until the end of the 2024/25 season. The Polish goalkeeper will wear the number 25 shirt, which he wore at Roma in the 2016/17 season.
Szczesny was registered to play in La Liga immediately after completing his contract. However, the former Juventus star did not participate in Barca’s 3-0 win over Alaves on Sunday because he had not played for a long time. Coach Hansi Flick said Szczesny needed a few weeks of training before returning.
The two-week break for the October international break is a good opportunity for Szczesny to focus on training with his new team and impress Flick. If all goes well, Szczesny could make his Blaugrana debut against Sevilla on October 21 in round 10 of La Liga.
According to SPORT, Barca has also completed the registration of Szczesny to participate in the 2024/25 Champions League. Szczesny replaces Ter Stegen in Barca’s 25-man squad. That means Szczesny is eligible to play in the big match against Bayern Munich in 2 weeks.
Previously, the Polish goalkeeper was seen with his family in the stands to watch the match between Barca and Young Boys in the second round of the 2024/25 Champions League qualifying round. According to Sport, Szczesny happily took pictures with fans, and witnessed coach Hansi Flick and his team’s resounding 5-0 victory over the Swiss team.
But Szczesny certainly won’t have an immediate chance because coach Flick prioritizes Inaki Pena as number 1 even though he hasn’t been playing consistently and meeting expectations. In fact, Szczesny will have a great chance to become Flick’s first choice. However, he will have to perform well on the training ground first before competing with Pena for a position.
Compared to Pena, Szczesny has more battle experience. He has been the main goalkeeper for many years at Arsenal, Juventus and the Polish national team.
The goalkeeper, who turned 34 in April, has played nearly 550 games at club level. Szczesny is not only the goalkeeper with the most appearances for Poland (84 games), but is also among the goalkeepers with the most appearances for Juventus and Arsenal.