Maximum pressure for Ter Stegen
Barça needs the German goalkeeper to validate the medical report that says he will be out for more than four months.
BarcelonaTensions between Barça and Marc-André ter Stegen have increased in recent hours. Although The Barcelona club intended to resume dialogue with the goalkeeper. and first captain of the squad to give his consent to the communication of a leave of absence of more than four months to facilitate Joan Garcia's registration in La Liga, the player has not given in and has not yet signed the corresponding report. The club's response has been to threaten him with disciplinary measures because it believes that his blocking attitude harms the institution and also his teammates, as has been advanced. Sports World and ARA has been able to confirm.
Although the meeting scheduled for this week between both parties is still taking place, Barça has already announced internally its intention to open disciplinary proceedings against Ter Stegen, hoping he will reconsider and acknowledge that his absence due to the lower back problems he is suffering will be for more than four months. It is no coincidence that the captain announced on social media, ahead of the club, that his absence would last three months. Only after four months, according to La Liga regulations, could the club use 50% of the German's salary cost to register a replacement, which in this case would be Joan Garcia. With Tek Szczęsny also unregistered because he has signed a new contract, the solution must come from another source.
The percentage rises to 80% for absences of more than five months. The management will act based on the determinations of its medical committee, which will decide based on the information provided by the Barça medical services, in turn documented by the prognosis of Amélie Léglise, the eminent figure who operated on the player last Tuesday. Barça believe that the absence could extend until early 2026, while the French expert is not so conservative. Be that as it may, however, no timeframe will be communicated to the La Liga committee without Ter Stegen's consent and, therefore, the management will not be able to activate any exception to the rule. fair play financial.
The goalkeeper of the last decade, with problems
President Joan Laporta, advisor Alejandro Echevarría and sports director Anderson Luís de Souza, Deco, are the three people appointed to persuade Ter Stegen to soften his position and agree to sign the consent form so Barça can inform La Liga about the German's diagnosis. This objective, which only addresses the short term, contrasts with the strategy that the presidency and sporting directors implemented at the end of May to force the departure of the goalkeeper, who has been the club's starter for the last decade. It even had external and spontaneous support on social media with the hashtag #TerStegenOut.
The plan was to sign Joan Garcia, a huge market opportunity, so that Ter Stegen would see his role in the team and also in the German national team threatened. However, the Mönchengladbach native clung to his contract until 2028 (agreed with the current board) and was determined to fight for his place. He doesn't care about Barça's registration problems—he believes they're not his fault—nor does he care about the leaks from the club's offices that he didn't act like a good captain during the crucial stretch of last season, which he missed due to a knee injury. He wants to stay at least until January, when he'll assess his situation and, if necessary, consider a loan move so he can play in the World Cup.