Barcelona confirm signing of goalkeeper Joan Garcia from Espanyol

Barcelona have completed the signing of goalkeeper Joan García from Espanyol after the La Liga champions triggered his €25m release clause.

The 24-year-old becomes Barca’s first summer signing as he put pen to paper on a six-year deal that runs through to 2031.

García emerged as one of the best goalkeepers in La Liga last season and was top of Barcelona’s shortlist this summer.

“I know that this decision won’t be easy to understand for everyone,” Garcia said in an Instagram post on Wednesday.

“I don’t ask you to do so. But I do want you to know that it’s been a decision which I’ve thought about a lot, thinking not only in my career but also in what’s best for the club, for my family and for me.

“It’s not any old farewell, it’s a stage of my life which ends with the conviction that everything I’ve lived has made me better.”

Arsenal are long-term admirers of the Spanish shot-stopper, however, the Gunners have been working on alternatives this summer.

Garcia played an instrumental role in helping Espanyol secure promotion from La Liga 2 in the 2023-24 season, keeping 12 clean sheets in the 21 matches.

He featured in all 38 of Espanyol’s La Liga fixtures during last term, keeping eight clean sheets and conceding 51 times.

The promoted side ended the campaign 14th in La Liga, two points clear of the relegation zone.

Wojciech Szczesny moved to Barca last summer, coming out of retirement to replace captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who suffered a serious right knee injury in September.

Szczesny ended the 2024-25 season as Barcelona’s first-choice goalkeeper and has now been offered a two-year contract extension.