Only one thing is certain in Barça's goalkeeping at the end of the current season: Iñaki Peña will leave the club.
There will be two top-level goalkeepers on the roster: Szczesny and Ter Stegen, who returns after his serious injury at the start of the season.
Hansi Flick's Strategy in Goalkeeping
The German goalkeeper has already returned to group training, although he won't have medical clearance until mid-May. It will be shortly before the end of the season.
Before rumors start to spread, Hansi Flick wanted to be clear with his two goalkeepers. He explained his strategy with them for the next season. Both agree.
As happened with Szczesny, the coaching staff won't rush with Ter Stegen. The Polish goalkeeper arrived in August after Ter Stegen's serious injury. He was already retired from soccer and Hansi Flick gave him four months to regain his best form.
He was Iñaki Peña's substitute until January. There, the German coach made the big decision, placing him as the starting goalkeeper in the Super Cup's 5-2 against Real Madrid and made it clear that his number one goalkeeper was him.
Szczesny Will Be the Starting Goalkeeper for the Rest of the Season
Szczesny's performance has proven Hansi Flick right, who now wants to act with common sense again, making the right decision. Szczesny will finish the season and will be Barça's goalkeeper in the key matches that are coming.
Flick only considers the possibility of placing Ter Stegen as the starter in some LaLiga match... as long as the championship is already decided in Barça's favor.
Then he will repeat the experience of Szczesny and Iñaki Peña. He will alternate Szczesny and Ter Stegen in preseason friendlies and the Polish goalkeeper will start playing the official matches.
When Ter Stegen is in his best form, the change in goalkeeping will occur. Flick estimates that this could happen in November, December, or January. And he will wait.
The issue is that Flick wants to justify Szczesny's renewal for one more year. And he gives him the opportunity to be important in the first part of the season.
But then his bet will be on Ter Stegen, who will finish the season as the starter. And Szczesny will retire, now definitively, at 35 years old at the end of the next season.
Hansi Flick knows Ter Stegen very well from the German national team and has blind faith in him. But Szczesny will leave through the front door.