The dispute between FC Barcelona and long-time goalkeeper Marc-André Ter Stegen almost goes into the next round.
According to media reports, the club now wants to withdraw the function as a team captain after a back operation. According to media reports, Ter Stegen was a little more than an hour in the Ciutat Esportiva, the training area of FC Barcelona on Thursday (07.08.2025). He did not give a comment.
Barça commissioned the German coach Hansi Flick, this “Drastic decision” to communicate. The reason was that Ter Stegen had refused to agree to the forwarding of his medical data to the league, reported the news portal “3cat” and the newspaper “Sport”.
No registration of other goalkeepers possible
Without the medical report, however, the league cannot check whether the Stegen is long enough so that FC Barcelona would get the right to register substitute players. So far, the club can have the replacement goalkeeper Joan García and Wojchiech Szczesny Therefore, do not register because of the Stegen refusal.
Future open: Marc-André Ter Stegen
So the already indebted club has to pay it, but must not use it. Barça announced a disciplinary proceedings against the German because of the refused approval. However, the team traditionally has a crucial say in the question of who should be their captain.
The specialist newspaper “Mundo Deportivo” wrote that the majority of the team have so far stuck to ter Stegen. It was initially not known whether there was a coordination of the team on this question and how it could be unusual. It was also unclear whether the club leadership could ignore the team’s vote.
In trouble for a post
The trigger was triggered by a social media post ter Stegens for his upcoming operation on the back. He wrote that the doctors went out of around three months of downtime. However, he would have to pause longer so that Barcelona can register a replacement in accordance with the financial fair play rules applicable in Spain. This may have been known when he wrote of only three months.
In contrast to the national goalkeeper, which was previously planned by national coach Julian Nagelsmann as number one for the 2026 World Cup in the USA, Canada and Mexico, the club did not provide any details about the default duration.
Ter Stegen’s contract runs until 2028, but the club would probably rather get rid of the top earner earlier.