According to a new report from Marca, FC Barcelona have made significant progress in their search for a replacement for Ter Stegen following his serious injury, and they have set their sights on the Polish
International goalkeeper Szczesny. Barcelona's sporting management are said to have selected Szczesny as a potential successor to Ter Stegen, but the transfer deal still faces several outstanding factors, with the opinion of head coach Frick being particularly crucial.
Reports suggest that Frick will hold a meeting with sporting director Deco at the club's training base after the La Liga match against Getafe, or on Thursday, in order to discuss whether or not to formalize the signing of Szczesny. It is worth noting that although Deco has opened preliminary talks with Szczesny's agent, Frick has not previously been directly involved in those discussions and is currently fully focused on preparing for the match against Getafe.
The central topic of the meeting will revolve around whether Szczesny joins the club or not, and one of the deciding factors will be the performance of young goalkeeper Iñaki Peña against Getafe. If Peña is able to show enough strength and potential, Barcelona may consider giving him more chances, thus abandoning plans to bring in Szczesny immediately. On the contrary, if Peña's performance falls short of expectations, then signing Szczesny will become Barcelona's priority option.
However, there is also news that Szczesny will not be going to Barcelona for a medical on Thursday, which means it will take some time to finalize the transfer deal. If the two sides ultimately failed to reach an agreement, Barcelona still have the opportunity to introduce other goalkeepers after the opening of the winter window. In addition, due to the upcoming International Match Day, Barcelona still has a month to evaluate the market and make a final decision, and it is entirely possible that they will sign a free agent goalkeeper as a contingency during this period of time.
