Barcelona set sights on 22-year-old Premier League star for the summer of 2025

Barcelona’s mission to sign a new goalkeeper in the summer is largely stemmed from the learnings after Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s season-ending injury.

With only Inaki Pena as a backup option, the Blaugrana were forced to enter the market and sign Wojciech Szczesny who had recently retired. The Polish star, however, will leave in June and there is a need for a long-term replacement.

Whether or not the Catalans sign a new player in the summer will largely boil down to the youngster’s performances in goal this season and Ter Stegen’s recovery. At present, the scouting is well underway.

An option in England

As relayed in a recent report by SPORT, Brighton and Hove Albion goalkeeper Bart Verbruggen has emerged as a potential target for Barcelona and is on the club’s radar.

Barcelona show interest in Verbruggen. (Photo by Matt McNulty/Getty Images)

Just 22 years of age, the youngster has already established himself as the mainstay for both Brighton and the Dutch national team. He moved to England in 2023 in a transfer worth €20 million and has shown great quality since then.

In seven Premier League appearances so far this season, Verbruggen has conceded 1.6 goals per game and averages a stunning 3.3 saves every 90 minutes. In that duration, he has also overseen two clean sheets.

Verbruggen is just one of the players being scouted by the Catalans and his current contract at Brighton runs until 2028. However, Joan Laporta and Co. see him as a viable target in economic terms.

After all, their top target, Porto’s Diogo Costa, is on the radars of Chelsea, Manchester City and Bayern Munich and will likely cost north of €50 million, a sum not feasible in Catalonia at the moment.