New goalkeeper?

malvolio

Senior Member
Didn't know that. Then he's unknown. Ter is a confirmed and guaranteed loser though. He's only way to euro title is, when his team is nigh untouchable and he doesn't need to make decisive saves.
Yeah mate, Neuer and Courtois dragged some piss poor Bayern and Madrid teams to CL glory.

Ironically Stegen's best CL season(with clutch saves that barcaforum adores) was the one when we won the competition.
 

Messi983

Senior Member
I doubt we will bring someone to loan him, and honestly I think Backhaus won't be a real option. He is backup GK for Bremen and while there starter is doing well, he isn't even capped with Germany.

Again, I think it is more simpler than that for the club (What I think they are doing, not what I think they should do):
They are bringing a real competition to MATS, and not necessarily a replacement. If that competition succeed, he will replace him, but that will be something to decide by 2026 or 2027 not now.
Whether that guy will be 20 or 28, I think they don't care that much

1. yeah, probably won't be a real option but IF the club believes he can become good in few years now that he has a low value might be time to buy him and then loan him to another club where he would play and see how he develops. Ofc this should be our plan C or D rather than plan A or B though.

Ideally I would like us to have two good first team GKs, then you can have a Pena or Astralaga for 3rd GK and hope they will never need to play in a serious game. Add to that a promising 18-19 yo GK who is playing regularly in BA and another one in his early twenties out on loan getting experience at higher level (probably Kochen in a year or two). Just so we are prepared if injuries happen so we won't need to sign players out of retirement again.

2. Agreed that's probably what they will do.

3. Personally I don't care about GK's age too much either but would ofc be nice if we can get someone in his early-to-mid twenties who could stay here for 8-10 years. But quality and how he fits into the team is more important than age when it comes to GKs for me.
 

Messi983

Senior Member
Why would we loan the potential young GK if we need him now? Liverpool has Alisson, Chelsea had Cech when they loaned Courtios/Mamardasvhili, we will have MATS who was bad before the horrible injury and probably 35 year old Szczesny. A good young GK can become a starter in no time if judged fairly.

The key is to offload MATS and buy a young GK with great potential and play him while having Szczesny as backup. He already said he's willing to help from the bench. Knowing our club there is 99% chance that we will go into next season with MATS/Szczesny combo with MATS walking back into the starting lineup. We never learn...

Because he needs to play regularly.

I just don't see your scenario where we push MATS out next summer (especially after injury), spend big on a young GK who would start immediately and keep Szcz as a backup (I think he'll go back to retirement as soon as he'll think he's not a guaranteed starter anymore) very likely.

Like it or not MATS is not going anywhere for at least two if not three years.

But ofc it depends on who a choosen GK will be, what his current level is and how much we would pay for him.

I don't think we are in a position to go for expensive ones like Costa or Verbruggen who are both in the 50m range (whether that's a fair price or not is another question). That would be a clear message for MATS to GTFO but very unlikely to happen.

So we are probably looking at 15-20m goalies like Bulka, Carnesechi or Messlier (all in their mid-twenties and with contracts up in 2026 so that's probably a realistic value). It's up to our scouts to decide who amongst them is the best fit for us if we're looking at that tier. I think they would all agree to come in and "compete" for minutes in first season and then take over. Is any of them really good enough to become a long term starter? I'm not sure. But they would provide the competition (and injury guarantee for MATS) that I think the club is looking for like @khaled_a_d said.

Other alternatives are pending free agents like Meret, Walter Benitez and Valles (I'm 99,9% he'll return to Betis otherwise he would be my prefered signing) but they won't be long term solutions either. In other words I see them more as replacements for Szcz if he'll go back to retirement after this season (which I still believe to be very likely) to be a competition for MATS rather than his longterm replacements. They would be clear upgrades over Pena but would be disappointing if that's the direction Deco will decide to go. Wouldn't be totally surprised though as we'll have other priorities next summer.

And then we are in a high risk/potential high reward territory with some of the names mentioned in previous posts like Restes, Suzuki, Kaua Santos,.. Will we really sign one of them? Probably not. But those are GKs that I meant as potential loanee candidates or more likely future arranged deals (so sign them next year and then they join in 2026). I think all of them would benefit more playing regularly for their current teams than spend most of the first season on the bench here.

BTW, I've seen Lucas Chevalier linked to Madrid recently. Should definitely be considered too.
 
Some dude who got dunked on by 5 goals by Spains u23, yeah perfect signing for Barca, again, like Costa and the others,
massively overvalued for playing bad for a big nation. Not one of them is or will be world class.
Especially since we do have three upcoming youth keepers, no need to sign someone that young and expensive, except maybe a cheap Backhaus to increase competition.


What I noticed is that top GKs always have ANT above 60, ideally over 70. Which is also Ter Stegens lowest stat by far.
And Penas :https://www.sofascore.com/player/inaki-pena/794949

That is why none of them are good in big matches, they just watch the ball go in like bystanders too often.
Valle could be the best option if wants to come, Garcia maybe, Remiro might be an option in the future, if he ever wants to leave Sociedad.
Agirrezabala is also promising.

I'd say Spain is undisputed in having the best keepers in the world right now, no other nations comes close.
 

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