Marc-André ter Stegen has been a constant feature in Barcelona since he signed from Borussia Mönchengladbach back in the summer of 2014. While he was initially the understudy of Claudio Bravo in the 2014/15 season, he quickly became a starter after the latter left for Manchester City in the summer of 2016.
From that year onward, Ter Stegen has been an almost ever-present face in the starting lineup at the Camp Nou, oftentimes delivering performances that have been key for the Cules. However, this doesn’t mean that the German international doesn’t have his fair share of mistakes in his catalog.
Indeed, for every three or four great matches, Ter Stegen could have some shaky moments, although that was bound to be expected. Even top players can make mistakes. The issues began, though, in recent years as he has been quite prone to injuries, which was reflected in the 2024/25 season as he missed most of the year due to a ruptured patellar tendon.
His backup, Iñaki Peña, never truly convinced manager Hansi Flick and was eventually exiled, with free agent Wojciech Szczesny being signed and delivering as a high-quality stopgap. And now that Barcelona has signed former Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia, it is clear that the club wants to move on from Ter Stegen, but the player has recently confirmed that he is going through surgery on an open letter in social media.
Dear Culers,
I wear the colors and jersey of FC Barcelona with great pride, whether on or off the pitch, in moments of success and in difficult times. Today is a personally difficult day for me.
Physically and athletically, I feel in very good shape, although unfortunately I am not free from pain. After intensive discussions with the FC Barcelona medical team and external experts, the quickest and safest way for me to fully recover is through back surgery.
After my last operation on my back, I returned to the pitch after 66 days—almost two months; this time, the doctors believe about three months will be necessary as a precaution, to avoid any risks.
Emotionally, it hurts a lot not being able to support the team during this time. Fortunately, the rehabilitation is manageable and the road back is clear.
I will keep you updated on my recovery and I sincerely want to thank you all, dear Culers, for always being by my side.
Don’t worry—I’ll be back!
Yours,
Marc
The German already had a rocky relationship with the fans because of his inconsistent performances in recent times and this letter, where he states how long he is going to be out of commission, sent them over the edge. This means that Barcelona’s ongoing financial problems are going to be harder to fix since they can’t offload his salary since he is currently injured.
After years of spending money in a careless manner, president Joan Laporta’s second tenure has been focused on keeping the club competitive while paying the bills, which has been complicated. This is shown by the fact that some players had issues to be registered in previous seasons due to salary caps and other established members of the squad had to reduced their salaries. It is within this context that Ter Stegen did posted this.
By confirming how long he is going to be out to the general public, Ter Stegen has made it near impossible for the club to find him a buyer in the transfer window. Moreover, there have been reports that show that he is not going to accept a contract termination unless he is paid what he is owed, thus putting Barcelona in a very complicated situation.
It is going to be difficult for Barcelona to fix their financial problems, especially now with what Ter Stegen has done. There have been reports claiming that the club is not happy with his statement, which makes a lot of sense, so it is going to be interesting to see what happens in the coming months.
For all intents and purposes, the relationship between the goalkeeper and the club is damaged beyond repair. The signing of Joan Garcia and keeping Szczesny have made him surplus to requirements, so he cannot even depend on the club needing him unless there is an injury crisis. And even then, the German has been having severe injury problems himself, so he is not going to be available, either.
It is a rather disappointing end for a keeper who knew how to protect Barcelona’s goal for so many years. However, that is also the nature of football since everything can change at the drop of a hat.
