FC Barcelona has officially confirmed the signing of Wojciech Szczęsny, a goalkeeper who joins the club as a free agent and has signed a contract until June 30, 2025. This signing is in response to the injury of Marc-André ter Stegen, who will be out of action for approximately seven to eight months due to a complete rupture of the patellar tendon in his right knee.
One of the main uncertainties surrounding Szczęsny's arrival at the Blaugrana team was the economic impact that acquiring the services of the Polish goalkeeper would represent and its influence on the team's salary structure. Given the period of economic austerity that Barcelona is going through, it cannot make significant expenses on transfers to strengthen its squad.
It is important to note that the registration of Szczęsny was not a matter of debate or complication, as Barça, facing a long-term injury (more than four months) to Marc-André ter Stegen, can avail itself of Article 77 of LaLiga regulations, which allows the use of 80% of the injured player's salary and 2% of the squad limit to register another player without issues.
How much will Szczęsny earn as a Barcelona player?
Regarding the salary that the Polish goalkeeper will receive in his new stage at FC Barcelona, coming as a free agent does not involve a transfer fee. Now, as reported by the sports newspaper 'SPORT', Szczęsny would be earning around three million euros gross for the remainder of the season, a amount proposed by Barça and accepted without objections by the goalkeeper, whose main motivation was to wear the jersey of the Barcelona team.
With this salary, Szczęsny would be positioned in the lower-middle part of Barcelona's salary scale, surpassing only first-team players like Lamine Yamal and Alejandro Balde with 1.6 million euros gross, Fermín López with 630,000 euros, Marc Casadó with 420,000 euros, Pau Víctor with 380,000 euros, and Pablo Torre with 210,000 euros. With this addition, Barça is adding a top-level reinforcement to its roster at a very affordable cost, which is especially valuable at a difficult economic time for the team.