A shaky transfer? The former Real Madrid star is headed to Barcelona

Barcelona celebrated a big win over Villarreal on Sunday at the unpleasant ground of Estadio de la Céramica, but it was outweighed by much worse news. Goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen was injured and will miss the rest of the season. Barcelona immediately started to solve the situation and the former Real Madrid goalkeeper was offered to come in.

Barcelona have not had to deal with a number one goalkeeper for ten years. For so long, the Catalans’ goal has been ruled by Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who arrived from Mönchengladbach in July 2014. Injuries have more or less eluded him and Barcelona have never missed him for an extended period of time.

However, in Sunday’s game at Villarreal, he suffered a complete rupture of the patellar tendon in his right knee and had to undergo surgery and his season is over. And that is almost tragic news for Barcelona.

His replacement is Inaki Pena, who started 10 games in La Liga last season. But he was certainly not full of confidence and he also made a lot of mistakes. If he were to be Barcelona’s number one, it would be a cruel blow to the Catalan team’s ambitions.

President Joan Laporta started looking around for options almost immediately. With the transfer market closed, the only option currently on offer is free agents. There have even been reports that Czech goalkeepers Tomas Vaclik and Jiri Pavlenka are in the running, but that’s not very realistic.

A much more likely option, according to Spanish daily Mundo Deportivo, is Keylor Navas. The Costa Rican goalkeeper is out of contract after ending up at PSG and would be available immediately. However, given his past, this would be a very shaky signing.

after all, the 37-year-old goalkeeper was at one of the most successful eras in the history of Real Madrid, Barcelona’s arch enemy. His brilliant performances have been responsible for three Champions League titles in a row, something no other club in the competition’s history has managed.

A warm welcome and perhaps hatred

Although he was later ejected from goal by Thibaut Courtois, which bit Navas very hard, he never gave up on Real Madrid. He showed affection for the club on several occasions, even as a PSG player. And when the Parisians came to the Santiago Bernabéu in the Champions League, he even received a big applause.

That’s why coming to Camp Nou, the main rival, would be so shattering. In Madrid, Navas would have damaged his legacy badly and the vast majority of fans would no longer be able to come up with a name for him. So it will be interesting to see if the Culés end up signing the Costa Rican.

If they do, Navas can be sure of one thing – when Barcelona take on El Clásico at the Santiago Bernabéu on October 27, this time it will definitely not be applause that greets him, but a lot of booing and swearing.

Source: Mundo Deportivo, X