Barcelona is desperate to move captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen this summer, with the veteran goalkeeper who is being replaced by new signing Joan Garcia. However, the German veteran has made it clear that he is not going to leave the club, and he does not seem to be impressed by their most important argument to force an exit.
Ter Stegen, 33, expected to return next season as number one, after a year spent the recovery of an injury. But when Barcelona activated the € 25 million release clause for Garcia, they did this with the intention of making their new number one. Since then, Ter Stegen has made it clear that he has no plans to leave the club and will fight for his place as number one.
The Blaugrana is planning to let manager Hansi Flick speak with Ter Stegen, and to convince him to leave as soon as he explains that Garcia will be the new number one. One of the most important arguments that Barcelona hoped he would convince this is the fact that the World Cup 2026 is around the corner.
With Manuel Neuer retired, Ter Stegen has the chance to represent Germany for the first time as number one on a world cup, and losing his place would harm those opportunities. However, Sport says that Ter Stegen is absolutely not going to leave before January, and if he is on the bench at that time, he would leave for more minutes and keep his place for his national team. His conviction is that he will now impose himself as number one.
Flick, who held Neuer for Ter Stegen while he was in charge of Germany, and decided to keep confidence in Wojciech Szczesny at the end of last season, will play a key role in the discussion. Ter Stegen has three years left over his deal, and an option would be Barcelona to guarantee that he will not play the entire season, but this can make negotiations even more difficult for an exit, with a lot of money at stake.