Joan Garcia joins Barcelona from Espanyol: Decoding his stats
What's the story
FC Barcelona have officially announced the signing of goalkeeper Joan Garcia from Espanyol. The deal was finalized after the Catalan club activated Garcia's €25 million (£21.3m) release clause. The 24-year-old will be joining on a six-year contract, further strengthening Barcelona's squad for the upcoming seasons. As per reports, Arsenal and Manchester United were also interested in signing him, but he chose to stay in Spain.
Team dynamics
What does Barca's keeper signing mean?
Garcia's signing comes as Barcelona look to provide competition for first-choice keeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen. The latter missed most of last season due to a ruptured patella tendon injury suffered in September. Former Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was brought in as cover and played 30 games across competitions, helping the team win La Liga. However, his short-term deal is set to expire at the end of June.
Career highlights
Garcia's numbers at Espanyol
Since making his debut for Espanyol in 2021, Garcia has made 67 appearances for the club. He played a crucial role in helping Espanyol gain promotion to La Liga in the 2023-24 season. Last season, he was instrumental in their top-flight survival, leading the league with most saves (146). He featured in all 38 La Liga games for the club.
La Liga
Decoding the goalkeeper's 2024/25 La Liga season in stats
Garcia made 38 appearances in La Liga 2024/25 season. As per Squawka Comparison Matrix (data by Opta), Garcia made 146 saves and had a save percentage of 74.11. He faced six penalties, saving two of them. Garcia attempted 1,059 passes out of which 709 passes got completed with an accuracy of 66.95%. Garcia won 28 duels and made 39 clearances. Garcia managed to keep 8 clean sheets.
Do you know?
Garcia won gold with Spain at Paris Olympics
Despite not having a senior cap for Spain yet, he has represented their age-group sides and won gold with their Olympic team last summer in Paris.
Twitter Post
Signing!
Welcome to the family 🤝 pic.twitter.com/NOMeQtaeBG
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) June 18, 2025