Barcelona temporarily deprived the goalkeeper of the veteran Marc -andre ter Stegen from the captain after his refusal to sign a medical report concerning his recent back operation – further revealed ongoing financial problems and the club’s registration problems.
33 -year -old International has recently undergone surgery to deal with persistent problems of serious knee injuries suffered last season. However, the tension escalated when Ter Stegen publicly stated that it would only be displaced for three months – a statement that contrary to the La Liga rules, which requires the player to be excluded for at least four months to qualify as long -term injuries.
Barcelona asked Ter Stegen to sign a medical report that reports a longer recovery period that would allow the club to remove 80% of its wages from their salary ceiling. This would help Catalan giants to comply with La Liga Financial Fair Play and register new signatures, including Manchester United Marcus Rashford and 24 -year -old goalkeeper Joan Garcia, signed from Espanyol.
However, the rejection of Ter Stegen complicated the financial maneuvering of the club. The club made the club to initiate disciplinary proceedings against it at the beginning of this week, and now they decided to get rid of the captain – at least for now.
“After opening the disciplinary proceedings against Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and until the matter is definitely decided, the club with a mutual agreement with the sports direction and coaching staff decided to temporarily download its role as the captain of the first team,” Barcelona said in an official statement.
Center-back Ronald Arauujo, currently more-capitan, takes over the role of the captain during the Provisional.
Standoff comes in a busy time for Barcelona, which is preparing to start defense of the title La Liga 16th August at Mallorca. The club returned to Spain at the beginning of this week after completing the pre -season tour of Asia, while the questions were still swirling around the registration and availability of the player.
Ter Stegen, who missed most of the last season with a cracked tendon in his knee and previously spent time pushed for his back problems, is understood that he has briefly met club officials this week. While the club confirmed that the recent operation was successful, no official recovery timeline was provided, and the club only stated that “his recovery will determine when he can return”.
With an inaki and 35-year-old Wojciech Szczesny available as alternatives and Joan Garcia seemingly brought as a long-term replacement, Barcelona seems to be planning a life after Tere Stegen-I when trying to balance sports competitiveness with financial stability.
– ends
Published:
Saurabh Kumar
Published on:
August 7, 2025
