American youth international goalkeeper Diego Cochen has agreed to a new long-term contract with Barcelona that will keep him at the club until 2028.
The Catalan club announced on Friday that the deal will become official on March 19, when Kochen will turn 18.
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As part of the agreement, Kochen will be promoted from the Under-19s to Barça Athletic, who play in Spain’s third tier, where he will wear the number 24 shirt.
However, since Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered a back injury in November, he has been training and traveling regularly with the first team.
He has been on the bench 13 times for Xavi Hernández’s side this season and had the chance to make his first-team debut in December, playing 29 minutes in a Liga MX friendly against Club América in Dallas. I got it.
Cohen previously signed his first professional contract in 2022, signing a three-year deal when he turned 16 after first joining the club. La Masia Academy of 2019.
Born in Miami to parents from Venezuela and Peru, he is also eligible to play in Spain, where he has lived since 2018.
So far, he has represented the United States only at the youth level, but Spain’s youth team director Francis Hernandez made a play to convince him to represent the country. la roja.
In an interview with Marca last month, Hernandez admitted that he had approached Kochen about the possibility of choosing Spain over the United States, Venezuela or Peru.
Kochen is one of two young American players currently at Barça. The other is Adrian Simon Gill, who turned 18 last month.
Gill, a midfielder and member of the U.S. youth national team, has missed much of this season with an injury. He has a contract until 2025.
Cohen and Gil aim to become the third and fourth Americans to play for Barça’s first team, following Konrad de la Fuente and Sergiño Dest.
De la Fuente played three games for the club following the win. La Masia Meanwhile, Dest, who is currently on loan at PSV Eindhoven, has made 68 appearances since signing for €20 million from Ajax in 2020.