United States international goalkeeper Diego Kochen will sign a new contract with Barcelona on Monday that will keep him at the club until 2028, sources have confirmed to ESPN.
The club first announced the agreement earlier this year, but sources told ESPN it was never signed.
The 18-year-old’s previous deal, signed when he turned 16 in 2022, was due to expire at the end of the season.
Kochen is yet to make his competitive debut for Barça but is regularly involved in first team training sessions and played 29 minutes in a friendly against Liga MX side Club América in Dallas last year.
He is currently playing for the club’s reserve side, Barça Atlètic, in the Spanish third division and has been included in the last two USMNT squads under new coach Mauricio Pochettino.
Born in Miami to parents from Venezuela and Peru, he first joined Barça in 2019 after moving to Spain with his family in 2018.
The director for Spain’s youth teams, Francis Hernández, previously revealed he made a play to convince Kochen to represent La Roja, but the goalkeeper has been clear his desire is to play for the U.S.
Kochen is one of three young Americans currently within touching distance of Barça’s first team.
Midfielder Pedro Soma, an international with the U.S U20 side, joined from Cornellà in the summer and is also part of the Barça Atlètic squad.
The third is Adrian Simon Gill, who has just returned from a long-term injury which kept him sidelined for over a year and plays for Barça’s U19 side.
Kochen, Soma and Gill were all born in the U.S in 2006 and just six months separates the eldest, Gill, from the youngest, Soma.
They are aiming to become the next Americans to play for Barca’s first team, following in the footsteps of Konrad De La Fuente and Sergiño Dest.