Garcia recently signed for Barcelona, and is tipped to move ahead of ter Stegen and possibly Szczesny in the pecking order.
Header image: FC Barcelona
Barcelona's new (likely) number one goalkeeper, Joan Garcia, was actually born in 2001. For reference, that summer, Pep Guardiola left the club as a player, Pepe Reina and Victor Valdes were breaking through into the first team, and Carlos Puyol made 51 appearances at centre back. Patrick Kluivert was the top scorer for Barcelona that season with 25 goals in all competitions, whilst Xavi was already a regular in midfield and Argentine Roberto Bonano kept goal.
For our readers of a certain (and admittedly not even particularly advanced) age, that can't feel like too long ago. As a reference point, it was only this summer that Pepe Reina retired.
Native to Catalonia, Garcia began his professional career at RCD Espanyol in 2016, where he rose through the academy ranks before making his senior debut in 2021. He started in a 3–2 away win over Solares-Medio Cudeyo in the season's Copa del Rey. He made his professional – and La Liga – debut on 10 January 2022, starting in a 1–2 home loss against Elche.
The 2023–24 campaign was transformative for the Catalan goalkeeper. After coming into the Espanyol side in March, he played an instrumental role in Espanyol’s promotion from Segunda División. Garcia won the club's Player of the Month award in three consecutive months from March to May 2024, and was voted by Espanyol supporters as the club's Player of the Season. In the 2024–25 La Liga season, he played every minute of all 38 league games, making one of the highest save counts in Europe's top five leagues, and kept eight clean sheets.
In both the home and away matches against Real Madrid, García produced man of the match displays, helping Espanyol beat the league leaders at the time 1–0 in the home fixture. In an away game against Real Sociedad on 9 February, he made a foot save to deny Luka Sučić, which would later win the La Liga Save of the Month award for February. He would make another save which won the same award in March against Girona, becoming the first goalkeeper to have won the award in consecutive months.
With a topsy-turvy year in the goalkeeping department, the departure of Inaki Pena, and the aging profile of Szczesny and - more disputably - ter Stegen, Barcelona moved to bring Garcia in from their rivals by activating his €25 million release clause. Garcia had been linked with Manchester City, amongst other teams, but opted to pen a six year deal at the Nou Camp. The 24 year old goalkeeper's move to a rival club has, however, prompted backlash from Espanyol fans. GOAL has reported that Garcia has had to change his phone number and avoid recently planned social activities due to the extent of abuse he has received online due to the move.
Barcelona Sporting Director Deco has made it clear that Garcia hasn't been signed to warm the bench.
"I don't have to talk to him. My obligation is to make the best team possible for the coach. This isn't my responsibility," Deco told La Vanguardia.
"There's no contract that says you're going to play no matter what. From here on, it's the coach who makes the decisions, and each player has his own ambitions. We've made the decision to sign a young goalkeeper. It means he can play tomorrow, be on the bench, or play in a year or two.
“We have certain expectations for Joan that must then be met. Everyone starts from scratch. It's the manager who will have to decide.”
Deco implied that the move was an attempt to build for the future, citing in the same interview the case of Liverpool's signing of Giorgi Mamardashvili. Deco directly referenced Allison's age (32) compared to Mamardashvili's (24) in the comparison.
Spain national team manager Luis de la Fuente, who did not select Garcia in the latest Spain squad, also praised the 24 year old - but reiterated that he did not believe he was currently better than the current Spanish national goalkeeping trio.
'He’s a great goalkeeper. I gave him a call-up to the U21s. Of course, he will come. We’ll see when the season starts what his situation is,” de la Fuente said.
‘But be careful, the best goalkeepers in the world are Spanish and they are in the national team. I say it very clearly: they are the best and we are very happy with them. And Joan will of course come to the national team when we think it’s convenient.’
