U.S. youth national team goalkeeper Diego Kochen has committed his future to La Liga giants Barcelona.
Kochen has agreed to a new contract with the Catalan club until June 2028, the club announced Friday. The 17-year-old will officially sign the deal on his 18th birthday later this March.
Kochen will be promoted from Barcelona’s Under-19 team to Spanish third-tier side Barça Atlétic, as part of the agreement. He made his first team debut last December in an international friendly with Club America, logging 29 minutes.
Kochen has also dressed 16 times for the first team this season across all competitions.
After originally joining Barcelona’s La Masia academy in 2019, Kochen then signed a three-year contract. The Miami-born shot-stopper has represented the U.S. Under-17 men’s national team on five occasions, but is also eligible to represent Spain, Peru, and Venezuela on the international level.
Kochen is one of two American players currently in Barcelona’s system and the fourth overall.
Would have been the starter for the US u17 team, but alas I think he was injured. Will be interesting to see if Barca allows him to be apart of this next U20 cycle with the US. Will probably be projected to be the starting US U20 GK in the U20WC.
I hear Spain is trying to get him to switch. Not sure about all the inter working of his situation.
What happened to the other teenager from the Chicago Fire who signed with Chelsea?
Gabriel Slonina is still under contract at Chelsea, but this season, he is on loan at Eupen, in the Belgian First Division, and he has been the starter since the beginning of the season.
first, he’s a young kid, and it’s hard for kids to start, so it’s impressive despite what i am going to say.
but second, you’re leaving out they are in 13/16 place and his GAA is pegged at 2. he’s not in england giving up a goal a game. eupen’s not that much better than playing for the fire giving up nearly 2 goals a game there. sorry.
also, if you read big club tea leaves, i’d almost feel better if he was U21 keeper at CFC and being schooled by an EPL staff. that’s educational. that’s investment. they loaned him out already. in EPL-world that can be giving up on a player.
i’d also feel more comfortable if it wasn’t set up for the miazga shuffle. eupen now. someone else next year. another team after that. as long as he’s putting up 2 GAA i doubt CFC is secretly having him prepared to come back and start or even get a first team jersey.
IV,
First, you’re not saying anything of substance in the first paragraph of your reply. Yawn…
Secondly, I’m not leaving out anything. I answered the question from Midwest Ref…simple as that.
Also, “eupen’s not that much better than playing for the fire giving up nearly 2 goals a game there. sorry.” What’s your point???
Thirdly, no one, least of all Chelsea is, “giving up on a player”, that is 19 years old, AND was bought within the last 18 months.
Additionally, loaning him out to get 1st team minutes in another First Division vs keeping him in-house at the u21 level is just another form of education and investment. In no way, shape, or form, is it, “giving up on a player.” To insinuate anything of that sort is just CLOWN TALK ( capital letters intended ).
Fourthly, as a 19 year old goalkeeper going to a club the size of Chelsea, who have deep pocketed resources, I am very confident that Slonina was aware, and accepting, of the distinct possibility of doing multiple tours of loan duty.
If you expected otherwise, or if you thought Chelsea had plans to have him start in the EPL anytime soon, or even give him a first team jersey, then you are wrong.
Actually, allow me to rewrite my last paragraph…
If you expected otherwise, or if you thought Chelsea had plans to have him start in the EPL anytime soon, or even give him a first team jersey, then frankly speaking, you don’t shit. 🙂
TIV, I disagree with your take because Slonina is a goalkeeper. If the goal is development then what better way to develop as a goalkeeper than by being on a low level first division team where your goal in constantly under siege. I’m sure he must be seeing a lot of action. Contrast that with being a GK at say Celtic, PSV, PSG where your team is so much better than the rest of the league that you rarely face any shots against. As long as he stays mentally strong and confident then he will be ok. As far as GAA I promise you that the team’s overall quality (both ability to retain possession and defensive prowess) affects GAA way more than the goalkeepers ability and play.
UclaBruinGreat
“If the goal is development then what better way to develop as a goalkeeper than by being on a low level first division team where your goal in constantly under siege.”
That depends. It’s a mixed bag.
It’s the old be careful what you wish for. Are you constantly under siege but holding them off? Are you winning a lot of games 1-0 or playing in a lot of 0-0 draws? Or are you getting blasted and losing 2-0, 4-3 ?
Those 2 goals that Slonina gives up, are they his “fault” or are they the sort that no keeper could reasonably have kept out? It makes a huge difference. I remember watching Zack Steffen getting regularly carved up when he was on loan with Fortuna Dusseldorf and thinking, “This can’t be that good for him.” In his 18 games there he had 2 clean sheets and gave up 37 goals. Sounds like he was under siege a lot.
For context, at Eupen, Slonina has given up 42 goals in 21 games and had 3 clean sheets. They are in the relegation zone and have a GD of -21.
On paper, does that read like the next great thing in goalkeeping?
The developmental experience he gained from having lots of action can be offset by the huge blow to the confidence that consistent losing brings. Overall, Slonina is getting a lot of playing time and that can only help. But one can be forgiven for wishing it was not for such a crap team
“Contrast that with being a GK at say Celtic, PSV, PSG where your team is so much better than the rest of the league that you rarely face any shots against.”
Any keeper would want to be on the best team they can get on. Nevertheless, goalkeeping is largely mental. It’s really hard to be 100% ON all game long when there is no action all game long and then suddenly having to deal with a breakaway, or a dipping, swerving blast from 30 yards out. Screw one of those up and imagine the shitstorm that will rain on you. Learning how to deal with that kind of enormous pressure is invaluable.
Don’t you think Slonina with his stats would have been sat down long ago by one of the teams you listed? At Eupen he’s learning, however subconsciously, that it’s okay to be mediocre
More to the point, if you are on one of those teams and are getting games, that means you are beating out some pretty impressive keepers.
“As far as GAA I promise you that the team’s overall quality (both ability to retain possession and defensive prowess) affects GAA way more than the goalkeepers ability and play.”
That may be true but I’m guessing a kid player’s development might be better served by not being put in such an extreme negative situation. That Fortuna Dusseldorf loan may not have hurt Steffen’s confidence that much but I don’t see that it helped him all that much either. There’s also a lot to be said for being in an environment where winning is the expectation.
IV: EPL teams U21 teams are not valued. If you’re still with the YT in England at 20 you can usually expect a career in League One or League Two. Chelsea U21 has played 11 matches in Premier League 2 this season compared to Gaga’s 21 appearances in Belgium. He’s gaining much better experience at Eupen. The guy that was the starter this season at Chelsea U21 got loaned to a team in the 5th Division this week. Gaga probably won’t be the guy at Chelsea ever but that doesn’t mean his experiences won’t make him a quality keeper.
IV: cont.- if a club believes in you in the EPL they loan you to Championship, Netherlands, or Belgium.
i thought we had a gk crisis in USA
Ha!…funny stuff! Do you think Kochen a new contract at Barca solves our current USMNT GK challenges?
* Kochen signing a new contract *
This is great news for Kochen, his career, and his family! Congratulations are in order and this should be celebrated!
But, it’s important to keep things in perspective and understand WHY he is being rostered on game days with Barca’s first team.
It’s because Barca is broke. Actually, that is not true, Barca is not broke, they are in debt…to the tune of $1B dollars…which is worse than being broke. THAT is the real reason Kochen is being rostered with Barca’s first team on game days.