Flick teases Szczęsny deal, won't hand No. 1 shirt
Hansi Flick confirmed he has already spoken with Wojciech Szczęsny after the former Arsenal and Juventus goalkeeper arrived in Barcelona on Monday to complete his move to the LaLiga leaders.
Szczęsny, 34, has agreed to come out of retirement to replace Marc-André ter Stegen, who has been ruled out for the season with a knee injury, and compete with Iñaki Peña for a starting berth.
Flick stopped short of confirming the signing, but insisted the ex-Poland international has not been made any promises regarding playing time at the Olympic Stadium.
“I don’t normally speak about players that aren’t part of the squad, but I can say that no player at Barça has guarantees that they will be a starter,” Flick said when asked if Szczęsny had been promised the No. 1 role.
“Yes, I have spoken with him, but I won’t say any more than that. If in the coming days he signs for Barça, we can talk more about it in the next news conference.”
Sources have told ESPN Szczęsny will sign a contract until the end of the season, with Peña set to remain in goal when Barça host Young Boys in the Champions League on Tuesday.
Frenkie de Jong could also feature against the Swiss champions, with Flick confirming the Dutch midfielder is in line to return after five months out with an ankle injury.
“It is super good news that we have Frenkie back with us, even if it’s for five or 10 minutes,” Flick said.
“He’s very important for us. Frenkie’s attitude is great. He’s been willing to help the team. We needed his presence and he’s going to be ready, not to play 45 minutes but maybe 10 or 20 and it will be beneficial for him.
“It’s also positive for him being back with the team, competing, being around the dressing room and putting the shirt on.”
Pedri, Marc Casadó and Pablo Torre are the only other midfielders available to Flick against Young Boys, with Eric García suspended and Gavi, Marc Bernal, Dani Olmo, Fermín López and Andreas Christensen all injured.
De Jong’s return, therefore, is much needed and comes just one day after he spoke about the “mental trauma” of repeated ankle injuries, while also denying reports he had disagreed with the club regarding the need for surgery.
Barça go into the game against Young Boys on the back of their first defeat in LaLiga this season, 4-2 at Osasuna on Saturday, while they were also beaten 2-1 by Monaco in their first Champions League game this term.
That Monaco loss reflects a wider trend in the Champions League for Barça, who have won just 10 of their last 25 games in the competition, but Flick says the past does not matter as he focuses on helping the club re-earn respect across Europe.
“We want to have success in the Champions League and to win all of our games, the team and me as a coach, and I’m very positive we can do that,” he added.
“We work well, train hard, play good entertaining football and if we need to gain the respect of our opponents once again then we’ll work hard on that.
“The goal now is to win three points at home and we will go out with our best team against Young Boys. In this new format, we don’t know how many points you will need so we have to get as many as possible from the start.
“I don’t know about pressure, everyone has pressure in their work, and there is always pressure on us going into games, that’s the job we have to do.
“We want to win our games and that’s how we deal with pressure. Young Boys have had a tough start to the season but they have good, quick players and are good in transition, so we have to be careful.”
