On Thursday, Barcelona captain Marc-Andre Ter Stegen announced that he will be undergoing surgery on a back complaint. In his own words, this will mean that he is out for the next three months, and this is bad news for the Catalans in more ways than one.
The decision will have little effect on Hansi Flick’s squad thinking, as Ter Stegen was projected to be third-choice goalkeeper for the upcoming season. However, the fact that he claims that he’d be out for three months is a problem, considering that Barcelona had hoped that he would be out for at least four, given that this would have allowed the club to use his salary to register another player, most likely Joan Garcia.
In fact, Barcelona are prepared to challenge Ter Stegen’s claim that he’ll only miss three months, with Sport reporting that there is a chance for the 33-year-old to be out for up to five months during his recovery from back surgery.
Ter Stegen posted statement without giving Barcelona notice
Furthermore, it has emerged that Ter Stegen did not give prior notice to Barcelona that he would be publishing a statement himself about his decision to undergo surgery, and Alex Pintanel has revealed that club officials are far from pleased with their goalkeeper for doing this.
The fact that Ter Stegen is undergoing surgery means that he will not be leaving Barcelona this summer, which is a blow for the Catalans in their bid to get his wages off the books on a permanent basis. And if they are unable to use 80% of his salary to register Garcia or Wojciech Szczesny, then it would be the worst-case scenario.
It also means that Ter Stegen’s hopes of starting for Germany at next summer’s World Cup will be hanging by a thread, unless he chooses to seek a move away from Barcelona during the mid-season winter transfer window.
