Szczesny opens up on retirement U-turn to sign for Barcelona – ‘If it weren’t for my family…’ | OneFootball

After making a brave decision to come back from retirement to play for Barcelona, Wojciech Szczesny is reaping the rewards this summer.

The veteran goalkeeper is coming on the back of a season that saw him emerge as one of La Liga’s best goalkeepers during the second half of the campaign.

Szczesny also won the domestic treble and is set to continue at Barcelona for one more season, where he will serve as the main backup for new signing Joan Garcia.

Szczesny on making the decision to play for Barcelona

In a recent interview with Foot Truck, Szczesny has opened up about making the difficult decision to come back from retirement.

Explaning his decision, the Pole said, “If it weren’t for my family, I would not have come to Barcelona. I think it was more because my wife got tired of me staying home and because I was tired of rest.”

The goalkeeper added that he will never regret the decision to come back from retirement and play for Barcelona this past season.

Wojciech Szczesny was brilliant for Barcelona during the second half of last season (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

“At first, I wasn’t very excited about it. Then common sense prevailed. I decided that, whatever happened, I wouldn’t regret it. Now, I would have regretted not accepting the challenge,” he added.

Szczesny on adapting to Barça’s style

A key challenge to Szczesny’s Barcelona move was getting used to the club’s style of play, which was very alien for the veteran goalkeeper.

Talking about adapting to Barça’s game style, Szczesny said, “On one hand, the locker room was fun, even though I didn’t play in the first few weeks.”

“When I started playing and got into rhythm, I had this great feeling of being really good at something, of living up to my own expectations,” he added.

Finally, the former Juventus and Arsenal star opened up about dealing with the pressure of being a goalkeeper, especially when one makes a mistake.

“I’m a bit of a psychopath. The first mistakes hurt in life. After a dozen, you are more or less used to them, and you are immune.

“A few years ago, I learned to switch off emotions completely during matches. I’m not like that in everyday life, only in sports,” he concluded.

During the interview, Szczesny also talked about his Barcelona teammates, including Lamine Yamal and Pedri, who he deemed as the player who impressed him the most in his life.