The loan of Ter Stegen is dangerously delayed

BarcelonaBarça, Ajax and Ter Stegen reached a preliminary agreement at the end of June for the goalkeeper played this season on loan in the Netherlands. But when it came to drafting the contracts, the problems began. The famous small print. First, it was the distribution of the footballer's salary, and then a series of fiscal matters. All of this has been slowing down what seemed to be an imminent loan. Four weeks later, the reality is that Ter Stegen is still in Barcelona and training at the Ciutat Esportiva under Hansi Flick's orders as if he were just another member of the squad.

The transfer is not in danger. Or at least that's what the blaugrana team assures. However, they warn that the documentation is not yet ready and, therefore, it will still take "a few days" to have everything tied up. The intention is to be able to close it this week, but given the precedents, no one can vouch for it anymore, to the point that it is not ruled out that Ter Stegen will end up traveling to St. George's Park (England), which is where the team will spend their pre-season stay next week.

This delay in the loan has not pleased Ajax at all, as the delay is not attributable to the Dutch team. In fact, the club coached by Michel Sánchez from this summer wanted Ter Stegen to join their ranks the first week of July, to start pre-season immediately. With the signing delayed, the first consequence is that the goalkeeper will not be able to play the preliminary round of the Conference League because he has not been registered in time.

Last Thursday, Ter Stegen did not train at the Ciutat Esportiva, but when everyone took for granted that the announcement would be imminent, new loose ends appeared to be tied up between the player and a Barça that will assume more than 80% of the footballer's salary. These are fiscal and economic matters that, according to details from the blaugrana club, correspond to the footballer. There are nerves at Ajax and patience is starting to run out. Nevertheless, according to consulted sources, the three-way agreement remains firm and, therefore, the operation, sooner rather than later, will eventually be closed.

Barça will make Adeyemi's signing official this Wednesday

On the other hand, Karim Adeyemi seems to see the light at the end of the tunnel. If there are no changes of plans, Barça's intention is to make his signing official this Wednesday, the day on which he should also be presented. At least, that's what president Joan Laporta confirmed just after landing from the United States, where he traveled to watch the World Cup final and take the opportunity to network with FIFA president Gianni Infantino and other federative bodies.

In his case, the verbal agreement between Barça, Borussia Dortmund and the footballer was reached on July 10. The problems, again, arose when it came to drafting the contracts. Bureaucracy and taxation delayed the agreement. Everything seemed to be settled last Thursday, when Adeyemi – who has not played in the World Cup – finally took a flight to Barcelona and successfully passed his medical examination. Again, the fine print prevented all documentation from being signed and a transfer of 22 million fixed plus 7 variables, depending on the titles achieved, from being made official, confirmed blaugrana sources.

Once it was sorted out, the operation could not be closed either because president Laporta had already left for New York, which is why everything has been postponed for a week, during which Adeyemi has not been able to train with his future teammates and has been living in a Barcelona hotel near the Camp Nou. At the time, Barça also had a setback with the signing of Anthony Gordon, although in the case of the English winger, the situation, of a fiscal nature, was eventually resolved in a matter of hours.