Ter Stegen, Last-Minute Absence for Barcelona Due to Injury
Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen has left the team’s training camp in Saudi Arabia to return to Spain and undergo medical tests. The club confirmed the news after the injury suffered during a training session on Tuesday.
Ter Stegen, 33, has dealt with physical problems in the last two years, missing a large part of last season due to a knee injury and the start of the current one after undergoing back surgery.
During this period, the German international has seen his place in the starting eleven occupied by Joan García. Sources close to the club suggest that they are open to letting him leave in January, as he seeks to have more playing time before this summer’s World Cup.
The sources did not want to speculate on the severity of the injury, nor confirm if it is related to last year’s knee surgery, but any time off could frustrate a possible departure this month.With Ter Stegen out of action, the U-20 American goalkeeper, Diego Kochen, will travel to Jeddah to support Garcia and Wojciech Szczęsny in Wednesday’s Spanish Super Cup semi-final against Athletic Club.
Ter Stegen has played more than 400 matches with Barça since he arrived from Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2014, but he has only participated in one match since his return from a back injury in December.
His only appearance was in the Copa del Rey victory against Guadalajara. Barça coach Hansi Flick has made it clear that García, signed for 25 million euros from Espanyol last summer, is now his first choice for the goal.
This has left Ter Stegen in a complicated situation in a World Cup year.
Girona, a LaLiga team, is among the clubs that have shown interest in signing him this month, but the economic aspect of any deal, given Ter Stegen’s high salary, means that any transfer, even on loan, would not be easy.
Barça arrived in Jeddah on Monday to prepare for Wednesday’s semi-final against Athletic, whose winner will face Real Madrid or Atlético de Madrid in Sunday’s final.
