Barcelona Targets Livakovic as Future No. 2 Goalkeeper
FC Barcelona are quietly building their next goalkeeping hierarchy. Joan Garcia has been earmarked as the long-term No. 1, and behind him the club are already moving pieces for the day Wojciech Szczesny’s contract runs out in June 2027.
The name at the centre of the plan: Dominik Livakovic.
€3 million agreement with Fenerbahce
In Croatia, IndexHR — echoed by SPORT — report that Barcelona and Fenerbahce have struck a deal for the 29-year-old. The fee: around €3 million plus performance-related variables, a relatively modest outlay for a goalkeeper with World Cup pedigree.
The idea outlined in those reports is clear. Barça would close the signing now, then immediately send Livakovic on loan to Dinamo Zagreb for a season. Once that spell ends, he would return to the Camp Nou to slot in as second-choice, stepping in behind Garcia and effectively succeeding Szczesny in the pecking order.
On paper, the succession looks tidy. In reality, it is still being negotiated.
Barça’s version: advanced talks, open scenarios
Sources consulted by SPORT paint a more cautious picture. They confirm that negotiations with Fenerbahce are advanced, but insist Livakovic’s immediate future is not fully defined, despite the confident tone coming out of Croatia.
Yes, the initial roadmap points towards a loan to Dinamo Zagreb. That is the preferred option on the table. But it is not the only one. Other loans are being studied, and one scenario has not been ruled out at all: Livakovic joining Barcelona’s first team as early as this season, if the club can carve out enough room under La Liga’s salary cap to register him.
The operation is well on track, but not done. There is no final agreement signed off yet, only a framework that all sides are trying to make fit financially and sportingly.
Inside the club, his World Cup performances with Croatia carry weight. Those displays convinced Barcelona’s sporting department that Livakovic has the mentality and shot-stopping level to handle the role they have in mind for him.
A key figure in the talks is his agent, Andy Bara, a familiar face in the Barça offices and someone with a strong relationship with the club. He is working to stitch together a formula that satisfies Barcelona, Fenerbahce and the player, while keeping the door open to those different short-term paths.
A forgettable La Liga chapter at Girona
Spanish football is not new territory for Livakovic, but his first taste of it was one he will want to erase.
Last summer he joined Girona on loan from Fenerbahce. The move looked, at the time, like a smart bridge into La Liga. It never took off. He did not play a single minute for the Catalan side and cut the loan short in January, heading back before the season was over.
Adding a twist to the story, the man who came in after that failed spell was none other than Marc-André ter Stegen — now Barcelona’s captain and still the club’s undisputed reference between the posts.
That Girona chapter lingers in the background, but it has not scared Barça away. The club see a different context now: a defined role, a clear long-term structure, and a price that fits their constrained budget.
Talks with Fenerbahce are moving, the framework is drawn, and the outlines of Barcelona’s future goalkeeping ladder are visible. What remains is the decisive step: locking in where Dominik Livakovic actually plays his football next season — Zagreb, another loan destination, or straight into the pressure cooker of the Camp Nou.
