Diego Kochen is a young football talent and a product of Barcelonaโs renowned La Masia academy, who is poised to become the next Marc-Andre ter Stegen, find out more about him below along with his age and height
Kochen is considered as one of the most promising players of Barcelona B and could very well join the first team soon.
Who is Barcelona goalkeeper Diego Kochen, bio, age, height, parents, nationality, position and contract
๐จ Diego Kochen a obtenu son permis de conduire ๐๐ pic.twitter.com/rjidV90ov0
— Espacio Masรญa (@Espacio_Masia) April 17, 2024
Kochen is one of two young Americans under training with Barcelona, along with 18-year-old midfielder Adrian Simon Gill.
Diego Kochen bio
Diego Kochen is an American professional football player who was born on March 19, 2006, in Miami, Florida, United States. He currently plays as a goalkeeper for Barcelona Atlรจtic, in the Primera Federaciรณn, Group 2, which is the third tier of the Spanish league system. Despite his young age and inexperience, Kochen has already participated in some training sessions with the senior first team, showcasing his talents and potential.
Kochen has been involved at youth level with various USA teams, although his mother is from Peru and his dad is from Venezuela.
Age and height
Diego Kochen is currently 18 years old and stands at a height of 1.88 m.
Nationality
Diego Kochen has a very interesting nationality prospect, as he has the option to play for various countries. Although he was born in Miami, giving him American nationality, his parents are of Peruvian and Venezuelan nationality. As such, he could play for any of these three countries or he could even play for Spain.
Diego Kochen career
Kochen started out playing across various youth categories from the young age of eight before eventually arriving at Barcelona during the summer of 2019. He gained the attention of various scouts due to his agility, reflexes, and technical concepts. After arriving at the Marcet Academy for a summer course, he also had a brief spell with the Weston FC Academy. The youngster eventually received a call-up for Barca B after impressing Sergi Barjuan and Oscar Lopez.
He has since worked regularly with the first team as well, after Ter Stegen suffered a back injury in November. Diego Kochen has currently established himself as Barcelonaโs second choice and has even come off the first-team bench 13 times this season. He made his first-team debut last year in December, during a friendly against Liga MX side America.
At the international level, Kochen has so far played with the USMNT at youth levels. However, he has not yet committed to any national team. Notably, Spain’s youth national team director, Francis Hernandez, has reached out to Kochen in the past, inviting him to play for La Roja.
Diego Kochen contract
Kochen recently signed a long-term contract with Barcelona on March 19, which runs till the end of the 2028 season. As part of the agreement, Kochen got promoted to Barca Atletic, where he will play under coach Rafael Marquez. He signed his first contract back in 2022 to join La Masia in 2019 at the age of 16. It was a three-year contract, starting in 2018.