“Completed his medical” – Fabrizio Romano provides major Barcelona transfer update | OneFootball

Barcelona have reportedly taken a significant step closer to finalising the transfer of former Juventus and Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, as he’s now completed his medical with the Catalan giants.

Szczesny recently left Juventus at the end of his contract and then announced his retirement from professional football, though he’s quickly decided to make a comeback, agreeing to make the move to Barcelona, where they urgently need cover in goal after a serious and lengthy injury sustained by Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

See below for the latest details as Fabrizio Romano delivers this major piece of Barca News, with the former Poland international now a step closer to linking up with Hansi Flick’s squad…

Szczesny should be a smart signing for Barcelona, arriving on a free and probably not as a long-term option, so it seems a no-brainer for them to bring the 34-year-old in for the next few months.

Szczesny transfer: Barcelona bringing in one of the finest ‘keepers of his generation

Szczesny has had a superb career and it will be exciting to see what else he can achieve during this spell at Barcelona, even if it’s not a particularly long term thing.

The Polish shot-stopper shone as a youngster at Arsenal, quickly establishing himself as the club’s number one under Arsene Wenger, who was known for promoting and developing talented young players.

Wojciech Szczesny with Poland (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

Eventually, however, Szczesny lost his place at the Emirates Stadium and made the move to Roma, where he got his career back on track and later earned a big move to Juventus.

Szczesny wasn’t always first choice at Juve, but he eventually became the established number one, replacing the legendary Gianluigi Buffon in that role, which wouldn’t have been easy for any player.

It’s undoubtedly a blow for Barcelona to lose Ter Stegen for a lengthy period, and their fans will no doubt hope that the German shot-stopper can come back strongly after what will surely be a difficult spell for him both physically and mentally.

Still, Barca have strong cover in Szczesny, who will be at the club until June 2025, though of course one has to wonder if he could do enough to even earn a longer stay than that.

He might not want that, though, as he admitted in a social media post explaining his retirement decision that his heart was not in it anymore, so this probably will just end up being a brief return to the football pitch.