A signing that slips away: the young goalkeeper who caught Barça's eye and won't be able to sign

The FC Barcelona has lost an option to strengthen their goalkeeping for the future. In a phase where the Blaugrana's strength is well guarded by Wojciech Szczęsny, waiting for the recovery of Marc-André ter Stegen, the Catalan team continues to explore the market in search of promising young goalkeepers.

With this premise in mind, one of the names that came up on the Barcelona agenda as a possible reinforcement was that of the 20-year-old goalkeeper Mio Backhaus, currently at Werder Bremen, where he serves as the second goalkeeper behind Michael Zetterer. Despite his secondary role in the German team, the '30' has shown his talent, especially during the 2023-24 season, when he was loaned to FC Volendam in the Netherlands and showcased his quality.

However, the operation will not materialize in favor of FC Barcelona. This is reported by journalist Florian Plettenberg from Sky Sports Germany, who revealed that the Catalan team intended to sign Mio Backhaus in the upcoming summer market and even started conversations to understand his current situation regarding a possible transfer.

Why did Barcelona's interest in Mio Backhaus become complicated?

However, according to the same source, the young goalkeeper was not convinced by the plan that Barcelona had for him, which consisted of signing him and loaning him to another team to continue his progression. This would have been the main reason why the operation did not come to fruition, as Backhaus seeks to join a project where he can be the starting goalkeeper next season or, failing that, compete for the position at Werder Bremen.

In light of this situation, Barcelona loses a young option to strengthen their goalkeeping. Nevertheless, the culé team is still considering other alternatives, such as Joan García (23) from RCD Espanyol, or Bart Verbruggen (22), from Brighton & Hove Albion, among others. Additionally, the Blaugrana youth academy has promising projects like Ander Astralaga (21) and Diego Kochen (19), who could potentially be candidates in the future to defend the first team's goal.