Barcelona have announced the signing of highly-rated goalkeeper Joan Garcia from Catalan rivals Espanyol on Wednesday, June 18. Garcia was signed after Barcelona triggered his release clause of 25 million euros and the goalkeeper will sign a six-year contract with the reigning LaLiga champions.
Garcia started his stint with Espanyol as a 15-year-old and had a fantastic time during the 2024-25 season, catching the eye of many teams around Europe. The 24-year-old made the most number of saves during the campaign with 146 to his name and was also one of the two players who played every minute of the season. Apart from this, Garcia also won the Olympic gold medal with Spain in Paris in 2024.
Garcia bid goodbye to Espanyol with an emotional video on his social media handles.
Barcelona announced on their official website that they triggered the release clause and said that the goalkeeper will sign his contract at a private ceremony at the club’s offices on Friday.
“FC Barcelona activated the release clause of player Joan Garcia. The cost of the clause was 25 million euros plus CPI.”
“This Friday, the player will sign a contract with the club for the next six seasons, until June 30, 2031, in a private ceremony at FC Barcelona’s offices,” read the statement from Barcelona.
Garcia expected to give competition to Ter-Stegen
With the signing of Garcia, Barcelona’s goalkeeping department is now stacked with top talent. The 24-year-old will offer stiff competition to Marc Ter-Stegen, who missed majority of last season due to knee surgery. This forced Barca to scramble for a replacement and bring Wojciech Szczesny out of retirement for Hansi Flick’s side.
Szczesny played a total of 30 games for Barcelona as they claimed a domestic treble.
