The mess that no one wants to take with ter Stegen and that threatens Barça's strategy.

While waiting for La Liga's medical panel to decide how long Marc-André ter Stegen will be sidelined , Barça is looking for ways to pressure the German goalkeeper to leave the club. The biggest trump card being played by the board, led by Joan Laporta, is the German goalkeeper's desire to play in the 2026 World Cup with Germany. In other words, after many years in Manuel Neuer's shadow, if ter Stegen isn't a regular starter for Barça or doesn't leave the club to achieve that status with another club, the German goalkeeper won't be a starter at the World Cup.

This is how German national team coach Julian Nagelsmann made it clear: "The last few months have been incredibly tough for ter Stegen at Barça. I've had a conversation with him. He knows the situation . Ultimately, he's our number 1, if he's healthy and he's the club's number 1 ," the coach began. "We have good older, middle-aged, and younger goalkeepers. If ter Stegen is healthy, he'll be our first-choice goalkeeper again starting in the winter. But certain conditions must be met. Until then, someone else has the confidence to start," the coach concluded.

Ter Stegen, who wasn't informed about Joan García's signing until it was already finalized, has no intention of leaving Barcelona . However, the German goalkeeper already knows, after speaking with Hansi Flick and Deco and seeing the market movements, that his situation at Barça is very complicated. Joan García arrived to be Barça's current and future goalkeeper and wears the number 1 shirt during the Asian tour, while the captain's armband is changing hands.

It all depends on LaLiga

In this regard, Barça hopes that the LaLiga Medical Commission will conclude that the German's sideline will exceed four months. Although the goalkeeper stated he would be out for around three months in his statement , and after surgery in the same area in 2023, he was only out for two and a half months , Barça leaked that ter Stegen should be out for between four and five months. The club believes he underwent "reoperation" and, therefore, is a relapse.

The Medical Committee is made up of doctors Fernández Jaén, Baro Pazos, Pérez San Roque, and Ardèvol. The latter will not participate due to his past employment with the Catalan club. If LaLiga approves Barça's estimate , the Catalan club could use 50% of his salary (around five million euros) to register Joan García.

"It doesn't depend on Ter Stegen's absence. What happens is that, via Ter Stegen's absence , which is a significant one, it's the most direct way to register the players ," explained Joan Laporta, who assured that Barça would be able to register all of its players.

The other problem with ter Stegen

Regardless of LaLiga's decision, Barça will continue to have a problem with ter Stegen in the locker room and in the financial system. The German goalkeeper is the team's first captain , has a contract until 2028, and is one of the highest-paid players on the team (close to 40 million euros in total until his contract expires). One pressure measure that Barça leaked is to permanently strip him of the captaincy this coming season.

The problem for Laporta's management is that no one in the locker room or on the coaching staff wants to take the blame for taking away his captain's armband. "Ter Stegen is a Barça legend and he deserves respect. He's the team's first captain because of who he is. The players will vote for the captains. He's had a really tough injury," Gavi stated on RAC1.

" Ter Stegen is the captain of Barça. Just as he was last season. I give him my full support. He's always given his best to the club. I support him a lot and so does the team," de Jong confessed on COPE , who has already faced attacks from the Barça board when they wanted to sell him, with contract leaks included. " Ter Stegen, just because of his experience and the years he's been around, I think he will be Barça captain. I don't know if there will be a vote, we haven't spoken, at least I'm not aware of it," said Ferran Torres.

"Ter Stegen is just another member of the squad. He's our captain, the one who guides us and our main support. He's with us, we're very happy, and we hope it continues that way," Cubarsí concluded. " The team always decides the captains, as has been the case in the past," explained Hansi Flick. While Barça's board suggests that ter Stegen behaved like a bad captain by pushing to play in the final stretch of La Liga, not traveling to Milan for the Champions League semi-final, and not holding a speech after winning La Liga , the Barça dressing room is closing ranks around ter Stegen.