Barcelona to sign Liverpool flop as a free agent

Robin Bairner

23 Sept 2024 14:45 BST
3 min read

Former Liverpool goalkeeper Loris Karius finds himself on a five-man shortlist to sign for Barcelona as the Catalans come to grips with a serious injury to goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Article continues under the video

Ter Stegen suffered a patellar tendon injury in Sunday’s 5-1 victory over Villarreal in LaLiga and has been told that the problem is ‘more serious’ than an ACL injury.

The Barcelona goalkeeper has undergone surgery on the issue but faces a minimum of eight months on the sidelines, with some even indicating that in the worst-case scenario his career could have been ended.

While this is a personal tragedy for the goalkeeper, it is also a major problem for Barca, who have been left with the inexperienced Inaki Pena to keep goal for them until the January transfer window.

The Blaugrana are seeking left-field options in the transfer market and have hastily put together a shortlist of five free agents they are eligible to sign outside the window.

Current ETV

Marc-André ter Stegen

Barcelona

Marc-André ter Stegen

Barcelona

ETV Range

€26.2M - €43.6M

Barcelona’s Ter Stegen replacements

Unsurprisingly, the list is not a particularly appetising one for the Blaugrana.

Karius is one of the most notable names among the five players that Barcelona are interested in, though this is in part because of his infamous Champions League final performance against Real Madrid in 2018.

While playing for Liverpool, he was culpable of making two huge errors as Los Blancos lifted the trophy.

Reds manager Jurgen Klopp blamed the errors on a concussion but Karius’ career never recovered from that game. He left Liverpool in 2021 before spending a year out of the game. From there, he joined Newcastle to become their third-choice keeper.

Keylor Navas, meanwhile, is another name Barcelona are interested in, yet the Costa Rican is a Real Madrid legend and has played little football over the last three years.

Edgar Badia, formerly of Elche, Tomas Vaclik, who was most recently with Elche, and Jordi Masip, who came through Barcelona’s youth ranks before leaving for Valladolid in 2017, are also thought to be options the Catalans are exploring as they seek competition for Pena during Ter Stegen’s absence through injury.