FC Barcelona have reportedly agreed to sign Dominik Livakovic from Fenerbahce for $4.7 million (€4 million), setting up a move that will not be immediate but is already reshaping the club’s long-term goalkeeping plans. The 31-year-old is expected to officially join in 2027, with a loan spell likely to come first before he returns to Catalonia for the 2027/2028 season.
The timing is what makes the deal stand out. Barcelona already have Joan Garcia as their first-choice goalkeeper, while Livakovic is being lined up as the replacement for Wojciech Szczesny, whose contract runs to June 30, 2027. That means the club is planning well ahead rather than looking for a quick fix, and it is doing so around a player with World Cup pedigree who has also played in the Champions League.
That longer view fits Barcelona’s current structure in goal. Garcia is described as the future of his club and country, while Szczesny was brought in as an emergency signing after Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered his ACL injury at Villarreal at the start of the 2024/2025 season. Ter Stegen later had two loans out to Girona and Ajax, and his contract is set to expire in mid-2028, leaving Barcelona with several overlapping timelines to manage.
The part that still hangs in the air is simple: if Livakovic has already been tied to Barcelona, where exactly does the loan spell take him before he arrives? The reported agreement answers the question of whether he is wanted; it does not yet answer how Barcelona plan to bridge the gap between now and 2027. For the club, the deal looks less like a transfer for today than a decision to secure a future No. 1 before the market forces its hand.
