Barça pays for the party and Ter Stegen will finish the season at Girona

GironaWhen the first rumor came out that pointed to the possibility that Marc-André ter Stegen When he signed on loan to Girona until the end of the season, everyone laughed. "It's impossible," most people said. But what seemed impossible has happened, and the German goalkeeper will finish the season at Montilivi. Ter Stegen is now officially a Girona player and did not travel to Prague, where Barça needs to win this Wednesday (9 pm, Movistar) if they want to keep their hopes alive of reaching the Champions League top 8 and avoid a knockout round.

All the necessary factors for the deal to go through have now fallen into place: Barça is covering most of his salary, Míchel has a top-level goalkeeper – provided injuries don't derail him – and he no longer has any excuse not to replace Gazzaniga, and the German will be able to get match fitness ahead of the World Cup.

The deal almost fell apart when Ter Stegen returned from Saudi Arabia after feeling discomfort. During those hours, Girona was desperately calling to find out if they should look for an emergency plan. Fortunately, they haven't needed to. Girona will only pay what they can afford so that the German's salary doesn't cause any problems regarding the fair play Financial: approximately 15% of the salary. Ter Stegen is one of the most high-profile signings to have worn the Girona shirt, a team whose fortunes have been turned upside down since the start of 2026. After spending months in the relegation zone, a run of three consecutive victories and another four in the last five matches have propelled them to mid-table, five points clear of the relegation zone.

The goalkeeper will therefore travel the 102 kilometers separating Barcelona from Girona to find a city that exudes harmony and good food, a stark contrast to the grim reality of a month and a half ago. He could make his debut as early as Monday against Getafe (9 pm, Movistar LaLiga). This is contingent on several factors, especially the fact that, for now, the long-time starter, Gazzaniga, has kept two consecutive clean sheets and has been a key contributor to the team's current positive momentum. The Argentine has fueled his detractors during the first half of the season with some glaring errors that have cost goals and points. In fact, even Míchel, in a fit of anger these past few months, wanted to field Dominik Livakovic, loaned out in the summer to create competition, but the Croatian, who inexplicably is still on the roster, refused to play because he hadn't taken to it, felt the offer had been made too late; you can't compete with three teams and he'd already done that at Fenerbahce. The Vallecas-born coach was so fed up with it all – he'd already experienced a similar situation with Pau López a year ago – that he exploded in a press conference: "Sometimes they really piss me off," he said. How long will it take for him to become a starter?

Míchel, therefore, will have to choose between maintaining the dressing room's hierarchical order and not touching Gazzaniga until he makes another mistake, or until a reasonable amount of time has passed, or getting rid of him immediately. In fact, it's possible that against Getafe he'll start the Argentine again, while Livakovic and Ter Stegen, two potential World Cup players, watch from the sidelines. Something no one would have ever imagined at Montilivi.

Before Ter Stegen's loan ended, which shouldn't take him long to adapt to the Atlético Madrid system, Míchel had already stated that "he's a top player, everyone would like to have a goalkeeper like him." Well, now he has him: he's the third winter signing after the loan of Echeverri and the signing of Fran Beltrán, a midfielder from Celta Vigo who signed until 2030. More signings are expected. There will also be departures: the first was that of Jhon Solís.

Barça, footing the bill, is delighted with Ter Stegen's decision, and they have consistently stated that they would have respected his wishes, whatever they might be. Since his wish is to play in the World Cup and he needs playing time, he ends up at Montilivi. Hansi Flick made it clear that he wouldn't be counting on him in Santander, in the previous round of the Copa del Rey, and the German has gone to work. The club's choice for all competitions is Joan Garcia; this is non-negotiable. We'll have to keep our fingers crossed that nothing bad happens to him: Wojciech Szczęsny and Diego Kochen, who will be the third-choice goalkeeper, are waiting in the wings.

A few weeks ago, Míchel had already called Ter Stegen to try and convince him. He probably didn't even imagine he could succeed, but he did, and Girona is strengthened by the Barça captain.