Ter Stegen’s turmoil leaves seven Barcelona stars out of the La Liga starting lineup

 

Barcelona appears poised for a clash with Marc-André ter Stegen following a bizarre row over his injury recovery.

The past few weeks have been dominated by an ongoing standoff between Ter Stegen and the club, following his back surgery last month.

The arrival of Juan García from Espanyol in June put the Germany international in an awkward position in Catalonia, effectively stripping him of his number one goalkeeper role.

However, Barcelona needed ter Stegen’s “favor” to register García as a La Liga player and approve Wojciech Szczesny’s contract extension.

Ter Stegen initially indicated he would only be out for three months, meaning Barcelona could not invoke La Liga’s regulations regarding using salary cap space from injured players to sign new players.

Garcia and Szczesny are potential replacements for ter Stegen, but summer signings Marcus Rashford and Rooney Baldeggui are also at risk of missing out.

Marco Bernal and Gerard Martín need to be registered, as do Oriol Romeu and Hector Forte.

Romeu is expected to leave in the coming weeks, which will provide Barcelona with some wiggle room, while Iñigo Martínez’s move to the Saudi Professional League will provide another financial boost.

The goalkeeper also refused a request to submit his medical report to La Liga, with Barcelona claiming he will be out for four to five months.

The Ter Stegen dispute has thrown Barcelona’s start to the season into disarray.

Despite the weight of the situation, ter Stegen is rumored to have not changed his mind following the latest news and hopes to remain at Barcelona for the 2025/26 season.

According to Marca, if he prevents Barcelona from exploiting a La Liga loophole, as many as seven players could miss the season opener against Mallorca on August 16.