Barcelona Targets Dominik Livakovic as Future Goalkeeper
FC Barcelona are quietly building their next goalkeeping era. Joan Garcia is locked in as the long-term No. 1, and behind him the club are already planning for life after Wojciech Szczesny, whose contract runs until June 2027.
That is where Dominik Livakovic comes in.
€3 million agreement in place
According to Croatian outlet IndexHR, echoed in Spain by SPORT, Barcelona and Fenerbahce have reached a broad agreement for the Croatia international. The fee: around €3 million, plus performance-related variables.
The structure is clear on paper. Barça would close the deal now, then immediately send Livakovic on loan to Dinamo Zagreb for a season. After that, he would return to the Camp Nou to take over as second-choice goalkeeper, stepping in behind Garcia and effectively inheriting Szczesny’s role when the Pole moves on.
That is the plan. On paper.
Barça cautious: future not fully defined
Inside the club, the message is more restrained. SPORT report that negotiations with Fenerbahce are advanced, but insist that Livakovic’s immediate future is not definitively settled, despite the noise coming from Croatia.
The preferred route remains a loan to Dinamo Zagreb, a familiar home and guaranteed minutes in a competitive environment. But other doors stay open: a loan to a different club, or even an immediate place in Barcelona’s first-team squad this season – if the salary-cap puzzle allows them to register him.
So the framework of the deal is close, but not signed off. The operation is moving, not finished.
Livakovic’s displays at the World Cup have weighed heavily in his favour inside Barcelona’s sporting department. They see a goalkeeper with big-tournament pedigree, capable with his feet, and hardened by pressure at international level.
A key figure in the talks is his agent, Andy Bara, a man with strong ties to Barcelona. Bara is working on the formula that has to satisfy all sides: Barça’s financial constraints, Fenerbahce’s demands, and the player’s need for a clear sporting role.
A Girona spell to forget
Spanish football is not new territory for Livakovic, even if his first brush with La Liga barely left a mark.
Last summer he joined Girona on loan from Fenerbahce, a move that looked promising on paper and went nowhere in reality. He did not play a single minute. By January, the loan was cut short and he was gone, a footnote in a season that never really started for him at Montilivi.
The twist? His replacement after that failed spell was Marc-Andre ter Stegen – now Barcelona’s captain and the man whose long shadow still defines the goalkeeping standards at the club.
Now Barça are circling back to the same player Girona never used, this time with a very specific role in mind and a long-term structure built around Garcia and, for now, Szczesny.
Talks are advanced. The outlines are drawn. But until Barcelona decide exactly where Dominik Livakovic will play next season – Zagreb, another loan, or straight into the first team – this operation remains one step short of the finish line.
