Szczesny: It would be disrespectful not to consider Barcelona offer

Wojciech Szczesny will listen to Barcelona’s offer to tempt him out of retirement as it “would be disrespectful” not to.

Fabrizio Romano reported on Wednesday that Szczesny is close to joining Barcelona to replace the injured Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

The former Poland international, who only announced his retirement last month after leaving Juventus, is set to undergo a medical this week.

While Szczesny fell short of confirming an agreement is in place with Barca, he indicated he would be open to a swift return to the sport.

Speaking to Spanish outlet SPORT, the goalkeeper said: “I have a lot of respect for Barca’s history; it is one of the best clubs in the world.

“I understand the difficult situation that’s arisen after Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s injury. It’d be disrespectful of me not to consider this option.”

Barcelona are able to sign a free agent due to the severity of the injury sustained by first-choice goalkeeper Ter Stegen.

The German is set to miss a number of months after undergoing surgery this week on a knee injury suffered against Villarreal last weekend.

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Szczesny agreed to mutually terminate his contract with Juve in August after a breakdown in negotiations over a move to Saudi club Al-Nassr.

The 34-year-old, who played twice for Poland in their group-stage exit from Euro 2024, then went on to announce his retirement from playing.

He won 11 major trophies during his career in England and Italy, while playing 84 times for Poland and featuring in seven major tournaments.

Szczesny joined Arsenal as a 16-year-old in 2006, making 181 first-team appearances and winning two FA Cups in 2014 and 2015.

After spending two seasons on loan at Roma, he then joined Juventus in 2017, winning eight major trophies, including three Serie A titles.

Between his Serie A debut in August 2015 and the start of this season, the Pole boasted the fifth-most saves among goalkeepers to play at least 50 times (481) and the fifth-best save percentage in that time (72.55%).

Only two goalkeepers in Serie A bettered Szczesny’s 200 league appearances since his debut, though he conceded considerably fewer goals (179) than both Andrea Consigli (411) and Lukasz Skorupski (301) during that time.

Should he join Barcelona, Szczesny will provide competition for Inaki Pena, who replaced Ter Stegen against Villarreal is likely to start in goal against Getafe on Wednesday.