In an attempt to make up for Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s probable season-long absence, FC Barcelona has chosen to bring in a new custodian.
If the Catalans want reinforcements right now, they will need to wait until the January transfer window, or they can only recruit players who aren’t already affiliated with any team.
With names like Keylor Navas, Edgar Badia, Loris Karius, Wojciech Szczesny, and Claudio Bravo making the rounds, it appears like signing a free agent is becoming more and more viable.
Bravo, on the other hand, has made the offer to leave retirement and rejoin Barça. Navas, a former custodian for PSG and Real Madrid, would also be open to joining the Blaugrana.
There’s another former Real Madrid player scheduled.
According to Toni Juanmarti of SPORT, Barcelona may consider considering Antonio Adan, a different former Real Madrid custodian, as a temporary replacement for Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
After ending his career at Sporting CP this past summer, Adan, 37, became a free agent.
The Spaniard, who attended Real Madrid’s La Fabrica development system, played for Real Betis and Atletico Madrid in addition to making eighteen professional games for Barça’s bitter rivals.
The 37-year-old’s extensive experience in Spain—nearly 130 La Liga games and 16 Champions League appearances—works in his favour.
Remarkably, he spent the 2015–16 season at Real Betis with Heiko Westermann, who is currently Hansi Flick’s assistant.
During the previous season, Adan played for Sporting in 22 league games and six in the Europa League. The 37-year-old is recovering from a quadriceps injury he had near the end of the previous season and is training alone as he waits for offers.
It is unclear what Barcelona will ultimately decide. The team has three options: sign one of the available goalies right now, hang out until the winter market, or wait a few weeks for additional assessment.
