With Marc-Andre ter Stegen nearing a loan move to AFC Ajax, FC Barcelona are set to finalize their goalkeeping hierarchy for the upcoming season. While the transfer settles, the coaching staff are already determining who will sit behind Joan Garcia and Wojciech Szczesny as the club’s third-choice stopper.
Current reports indicate that Barça are considering Áron Yaakobishvili or Eder Aller to complete the senior goalkeeping group. The decision is expected to be made before the transfer window closes, as the club aims to avoid a situation where the third-choice keeper spends too many matches on the bench or misses opportunities due to clashes with the first team schedule.
Iker Rodriguez, an 18-year-old product of La Masia, has been held in high regard by the sports department and had been in contention for the third-choice role. Rodriguez, who hails from Sabadell, is under contract with Barça until 2027, with talks already underway to extend his deal. He has trained regularly with the first team during pre-season, but the club believes his development would benefit more from consistent competitive football with Barça Atletic, overseen by Juliano Belletti, rather than frequent stints with the senior squad.
Yaakobishvili, a 20-year-old Hungarian talent, has been training with the first team during pre-season alongside Rodriguez. Aller, a 19-year-old, has spent pre-season with Barça Atletic. Both are viewed as viable options to fill the third-choice goalkeeper role in the first team, should the club decide not to promote Rodriguez for the spot.
Yaakobishvili favored regular first-team football after a productive loan spell at Andorra in the first half of the previous season. While playing in Spain’s Segunda División, he made 21 league appearances before losing his starting role around mid-February. Aller, by contrast, spent much of last season with the senior squad but did not feature prominently. He was named on the bench for 16 La Liga matches under the coaching staff and appeared once for Barça B early in the season, in addition to playing three UEFA Youth League matches for the Under-19 team. Rodriguez contributed 10 appearances for Barcelona’s Under-19 team last season.
As the pre-season unfolds, the club plans to use the remaining weeks to decide which goalkeeper will complete the senior squad behind García and Szczęsny. For now, Yaakobishvili and Aller are the leading candidates, while Rodriguez’s long-term development remains the club’s priority.
