Barcelona's Pursuit of Livakovic Intensifies: Key Decisions Await

FC Barcelona’s long-term planning in goal is accelerating, even if the final picture is not yet fully drawn.

With Joan Garcia already pencilled in as the club’s future No. 1, the Catalans are now closing in on the man expected to work behind him once Wojciech Szczesny’s deal runs out in June 2027. The name on the table is Dominik Livakovic.

€3 million agreement with Fenerbahce

In Croatia, the story is being treated as almost done. IndexHR, echoed by SPORT, report that Barcelona and Fenerbahce have reached an agreement for the Croatian international worth around €3 million plus a series of add-ons.

The structure is clear: Barça would sign Livakovic now, then immediately send him out on loan to Dinamo Zagreb for a season. After that year back in familiar surroundings, he would return to Camp Nou to take up the role of second-choice goalkeeper, with Garcia as the established starter and Szczesny phased out at the end of his contract.

On paper, it’s a neat succession plan. In practice, there are still moving parts.

Plan in place, future undecided

Sources at SPORT paint a more cautious picture. Talks with Fenerbahce are described as advanced, but Livakovic’s immediate destination has not been definitively fixed, despite the confident tone of the Croatian reports.

The preferred route remains a loan to Dinamo Zagreb. That is the scenario being worked on. Yet other options are still alive: a loan to a different club, or even integrating Livakovic straight into Barcelona’s first-team squad this season – but only if the salary-cap conditions allow the club to register him.

So the framework of the deal is close, the lines are drawn, but the signature and the exact next step are still missing.

Inside the club, Livakovic’s World Cup performances are understood to have carried significant weight in the sporting department’s decision. His temperament on the biggest stage and his shot-stopping in tournament play have helped push this operation forward.

Agent with Barça ties at the heart of talks

One man sits right at the centre of this negotiation: Andy Bara. Livakovic’s agent maintains a strong relationship with Barcelona and is working to build a formula that keeps every side satisfied – player, selling club, buying club and any loan destination.

His role is key. The deal’s financial scale is modest by Barça standards, but the timing, the loan, and the registration puzzle in La Liga make it a delicate operation.

A forgettable Spanish chapter at Girona

Livakovic already has a small, frustrating chapter in Spanish football behind him.

He arrived at Girona on loan from Fenerbahce last summer, a move that was supposed to open the door to La Liga and regular minutes. Instead, it became a non-event. The Croatian did not play a single competitive match and cut the loan short in January.

The twist? His replacement in that squad slot was Marc-Andre ter Stegen, Barcelona’s captain and the man whose eventual succession the club is now trying to choreograph from a distance.

That Girona spell is one Livakovic will want to erase with his next move. Barcelona are offering him exactly that chance – a route back into Spain, this time with a defined role and a long-term plan attached.

For now, the message from inside the club is consistent: negotiations are well advanced, the interest is real, the structure is being refined. But despite the noise from Croatia, the final agreement and the decision on where Livakovic plays his football this season have not yet been signed off.

Barcelona know who they want behind Joan Garcia. The only question left is where Dominik Livakovic will be standing when that future finally begins.