Manchester City goalkeeper Ellie Roebuck is set to join Barcelona at the end of the season.
The 24-year-old, whose City contract expires in June, has signed a pre-contract agreement with Barcelona and will compete with Barcelona No 1 Cata Coll and reserve goalkeeper Gemma Font.
Barcelona are also set to renew Font’s contract while in February, long-term No 1 Sandra Panos announced she would leave the Catalan club after nine years. This season, Coll and Panos have shared goalkeeping duties making 13 and 10 starts respectively in Liga F.
In March, Roebuck revealed she had suffered a left occipital infarct, a type of stroke that occurs in the occipital lobe, but she said she had not sustained lasting damage to her brain function or vision, adding she is “ready to give it all to get back to the thing I love most”. Barcelona monitored the situation and are proceeding with the transfer.
Roebuck was last named on City’s bench in January but has not played at all under manager Gareth Taylor this season despite starting 17 out of 22 Women’s Super League games for City last season.
Her last outing for City was against Manchester United on May 21, 2023, when she was sent off for a challenge on Nikita Parris. Having been a part of England’s squad last last summer’s World Cup, Roebuck has also not been part of the national team set-up since October.
Taylor has opted instead for 19-year-old Khiara Keating who has kept eight clean sheets in 19 WSL matches. Sarina Wiegman also selected Kheating for the latest England camp in April but she was forced to withdraw through injury.
Given the lack of game time, it was likely, as far back as January, that Roebuck would seek a move away to try and revitalise her domestic and international career.
GO DEEPER
Dropped by Manchester City and England, what now for Ellie Roebuck?
Additional reporting: Laia Cervello Herrero
(Matt McNulty/Getty Images)
