Barcelona will not be able to find a way around Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s red light in their attempts to activate the injury rule in order to facilitate registrations. The German goalkeeper has no intention of signing off on his medical information being shared with La Liga.
The significance of which is that it may prevent Barcelona registering new goalkeeper Joan Garcia, and certainly makes his presence on the opening day of La Liga much less likely. After ter Stegen underwent surgery on his back last week, Barcelona had planned to activate La Liga’s injury rule, allowing them to use 50-80% of ter Stegen’s salary to register a replacement for an absence of four months or more.
La Liga will not accept Barcelona legal loopholes
The Blaugrana have briefed local media that they believe they have legal grounds to be able to submit ter Stegen’s medical report, which La Liga must examine to activate the injury rule, without his consent. The information is in theory protected by the data protection act. Yet they have not detailed what those grounds are, and Cadena SER report that La Liga have no intention of entertaining the idea.
Unless ter Stegen gives his consent and signs his consent, La Liga will not examine the report, and thus will not grant Barcelona extra salary limit space.
Barcelona-ter Stegen summit off the cards
On their return from South Korea, Barcelona had been scheduled to meet with ter Stegen to discuss the matter, after opening a disciplinary process, to discuss the issue. However Diario AS now say that this is off the cards. The Catalan giants are furious with ter Stegen, feeling he is acting in bad faith, and harming the club.
This week, the VIP seats operation should be validated. There’s optimism that Barça will be able to register their new players thanks to this. @sport
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) August 5, 2025
Blaugrana operating on the edge with ter Stegen
Barcelona are also looking into what sanctions they can hit ter Stegen with following his refusal, the first in the history of La Liga, with reports of a potential fine. However lawyer Cristian Zarroca has also warned that Barcelona must be careful. If a court were to deem a sanction as coercion or reprisals, then Barcelona could face legal action from ter Stegen for institutional bullying.
Barcelona goalkeeping situation
It does leave Hansi Flick with something of a headache for their opening La Liga game against RCD Mallorca in 10 days’ time. Inaki Pena is the only fit registered option at goalkeeper, with Wojciech Szczesny also awaiting registration. He is expected to leave this transfer window, while Flick could also turn to youngster Diego Kochen, but neither are ideal scenarios.
