Ter Stegen is injured again, complicating his future at Barcelona

Marc-André ter Stegen is once again in the news at FC Barcelona. On Tuesday night, the German goalkeeper returned to Ciutat Condal after suffering a muscle injury in Tuesday's training session in Jeddah, Arabia, prior to the Spanish Super Cup semifinal against Athletic Club (Wednesday 07 at 20:00 CEST).

In principle, although it would not be a serious injury, its impact on the future of 'Matts' this season is concerning. The '1' would be a substitute for **Joan García** in the Super Cup, along with **Wojciech Szczesny**. However, he had good options to return to the Barça goal next week in the Copa del Rey round of 16 tie, against **Racing de Santander**.

Ter Stegen started in the Copa del Rey debut against Guadalajara (0-2) and, although Hansi Flick has made it clear to him that he will be a substitute for the rest of the season, the German goalkeeper has not yet expressed his intention to leave on loan in the current winter transfer window.

Ter Stegen's injury could complicate his loan to Girona

However, Girona is very attentive to the situation of the Barça captain and has advanced contacts with the 33-year-old player and Barça to negotiate a six-month loan, with no purchase option and with the Catalans assuming most of the goalkeeper's salary (around 7 million gross for the remainder of the season)

In principle, the offer from Montilivi did not convince Marc-André, but the pressure in Germany for him to find a team in the winter market, along with Míchel's insistence, would have softened the German's stance regarding his future

'Matts' knows that if he spends the entire second half of the 25/26 season on the Barça bench, he will hardly be a starter for his national team in the **World Cup**. Girona, for its part, is looking for a goalkeeper to cover the imminent departure of the Croatian **Dominic Libakovic**, whose loan failed due to his poor relationship with Míchel

Ter Stegen training at the Ciutat Esportiva

However, Ter Stegen's new injury leaves the possibility of him going on loan to Girona or any other team 'up in the air'. The experienced goalkeeper's physical condition has been his Achilles' heel in the last two years, with **two lumbar injuries** that forced him to undergo surgery in October 2023 and July of last year.

The Mönchengladbach player also tore his right knee's patellar tendon in September 2024 and, since then, has only been available for ten official Barça matches, playing a couple of league games (Valladolid and Villarreal) and another in the Cup (Guadalajara)

Ter Stegen's Future a Complex File for Barça

If Ter Stegen suffers another serious injury, he runs the risk of spending the rest of the season on the bench for the azulgrana team. Although the long-term absence of Andreas Christensen will free up enough salary cap space to complete the signing of Joao Cancelo, it would be ideal to also get rid of 'Matts' in January.

First, because Hansi Flick does not count on him and, facing a possible permanent transfer in the summer, **his potential inactivity works against him** in increasing the number of offers and clubs interested in the '1'.Furthermore, the German remains a benchmark within the squad, and the best thing for him would be to move to a team where he can regain his best form and the prominence a goalkeeper of his caliber deserves

Ter Stegen's contract with Barcelona runs until 2028, and he has played 423 official matches and won 17 titles with the club after nearly a decade defending the Catalan goal. For the Super Cup, Diego Kochen traveled to replace him, although the American was supposed to play this Wednesday with the reserve team against Valencia Mestalla in a rescheduled Segunda RFEF match.