It will be hard to get Ter Stegen off the donkey

BarcelonaIn any case, we like to take sides. We like to decide who we support, but sometimes things are more complicated. Or simpler. In the case of Ter Stegen I see it this way. I can understand the German goalkeeper's position, and also Joan Laporta's. We can question the timing and the methods, but let's be honest... Are we really waiting for a football player, in an altruistic act, to give away money and go against his own interests? Who would do his company a favor? Nobody. And even less so when this board renewed your contract until 2028.

But, in football, things usually work differently because most fans don't see Barça as a company, but as their great love. Fans love Barça and expect romantic gestures from the players, since it's a matter of feelings. But players are never usually romantic. We can't blame them.

And Ter Stegen doesn't want to leave. Life is good in Catalonia. And even more so now that he's rebuilt his love life here. Why should he want to leave, if he's living well here? Has he been a bad teammate? Yes, clearly. Ter Stegen wouldn't be a charity sister. But this, ultimately, isn't the crux of the matter.

The key is that the board has decided she must be let go. The club has prioritized its agenda. Laporta's responsibility is to think about the future, renew the squad, and find ways to register players. In other words, the club has to make decisions that can be damaging. Ter Stegen's manner is lacking, but the club isn't free from sin either, airing the German's dirty laundry. Basically, everyone defends their agenda as best they can. And here we have the big difference: one is an individual agenda and the other a collective one.

A club that has decided that the future is Joan Garcia and that Ter Stegen's term is over, not just so it can register players now. Whether we like the manner or not, Barça must know how to dismiss players when it decides to, and not when the player decides to. The challenge is huge: it will be hard to get Ter Stegen off his rocker, as he doesn't want to leave. I understand both of them. I wouldn't want to leave here either, but if I were Laporta, I'd make the same decision with a 33-year-old goalkeeper now that he's still on the market.