Barcelona goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny reveals ongoing injury – “I completely lose feeling in my hands”

Over the summer, Wojciech Szczesny extended his stay at Barcelona, but he did so knowing that he would prolong his “suffering”. The suffering in question? Debilitating pain in both of his arms, which he has now opened up on.

Speaking to GQ Magazine (via Sport), Szczesny revealed that he is still dealing with the after-effects of a double arm break that he sustained as an Arsenal player over 15 years ago.

“There comes a time during training when I completely lose feeling in my hands and I can’t even hold a bottle of water because of the pain. So, the coaches and I joked that training is over because I’m paralyzed again, but the reality is that I’m fed up with this suffering.

“It’s worse during pre-season, during very demanding training. During the season, it’s easier because you do two workouts and then a match, so the hands rest, and it’s not as strong. It extends from the wrist to the elbow.”

Szczesny: I played my first season at Barcelona for free

This undoubtedly played a part in Szczesny’s decision to retire from football in the summer of 2024, although he was tempted back to the game a few months later by Barcelona. He spoke on that process.

“It wasn’t that I wasn’t passionate about football. I wasn’t passionate about the options on the table, even though the top ten clubs were making offers. It wasn’t about raising my price. I didn’t want to continue playing just for money. My intuition told me to say no. Three days before announcing my retirement, I spoke to ‘Lewy’ and told him that I didn’t want to play for any club anymore.

“But when Barcelona called me, they probably suspected that they could convince me. I played my first season for free. What I received from Barcelona was exactly what I had to return to Juve for terminating my contract early.”

Szczesny recently finished a run of nine matches played in a row, brought about due to an injury to Barcelona first-choice goalkeeper Joan Garcia. Based on comments he made several weeks ago, he will be happy to have returned to the substitutes’ bench.

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