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Barcelona goalkeeper Ter Stegen is recovering from back surgery. "Marca" talked about the current situation of the German goalkeeper.
ter Stegen continues to recover from back surgery three months ago to resolve a lumbar problem that was preventing him from performing at his best. The German goalkeeper is still weeks away from returning and his minimum recovery period is four months according to La Liga regulations, which also facilitates the registration of Joan Garcia. Therefore, Ter Stegen has started the countdown to his comeback, but this process is full of difficulties and challenges.
Ter Stegen's injury time is a huge unknown, and all parties are cautious about it. The fact that they were silent about it and the initially expected recovery time sparked a huge conflict between the captain and Barca, because if the recovery time is less than three months, he cannot be registered as an alternative resource for Juan Garcia. While everyone is approaching the Germany international's recovery with caution and a low profile, he is expected to return before the end of the year.
However, captain Ter Stegen's return faces two major obstacles. First of all, the 33-year-old German goalkeeper has lost his starting position at Barcelona. Flick has made it clear that his first-choice goalkeeper is Juan Garcia. The Catalan goalkeeper is recovering from a torn medial meniscus in his left knee, which he underwent surgery at the end of September, and is expected to be in the squad in the coming days. Szczesny took over from the former Espanyol goalkeeper and performed well, for example, being one of the best Barcelona players in last weekend's El Clasico at the Santiago Bernabeu.
Therefore, Ter Stegen will become the backup goalkeeper, which is a completely new situation for his Barcelona career in the past few years. He has been the team's starting goalkeeper since the 2016-17 season, a situation that complicates his chances of participating in next summer's World Cup. Even with Nagelsmann's confidence in him, Ter Stegen will need to keep up the pace ahead of the big games in order to get a chance to play.
The second reason that makes Ter Stegen's return difficult is that the Germans clearly know that Barcelona does not want him to stay in the team. The club have put him on the transfer market this summer and plan to try to offload him again in January. The former Gladbach goalkeeper has established himself in the dressing room and the city since joining Barcelona in 2014 and has been reluctant to leave the club. Ter Stegen's contract expires in 2028 and he hopes to fulfill this contract. However, Barca will put pressure on him to find another way out. Flick believes that Joan Garcia, Wojciech Szczesny and the youth goalkeepers are adequate for the team's goalkeeping tasks, and Ter Stegen is one of the highest-paid players in the team.
According to multiple British media reports, several English clubs are paying close attention to Ter Stegen and are willing to sign him, and even consider a loan deal. One of the clubs is Chelsea. Ter Stegen has no desire to leave Barcelona but is currently focused on making a full recovery. He sees his return to the court getting closer and is counting down the days, but he also realizes that his return will face many thorny challenges.
source:7m cn macau
