Marc-André ter Stegen seems destined to go under the knife this summer. The German has not been able to train normally during the first week of preseason with FC Barcelona due to back discomfort, and both the club's and the German national team's doctors advise him to have surgery to avoid a more serious injury.
In that sense, the Barça captain could be out for around 4 months, which is positive news for the Azulgrana finances. In addition to being able to receive compensation from FIFA for the absence of the Mönchengladbach native (around 2 million euros), the absence of the '1' allows the club to free up salary margin and reuse it in the incorporation of new reinforcements.
In this regard, article 77 of the Regulations for the Preparation of Club Budgets states, with respect to how much salary margin teams release in the case of players with injuries of 16 or more weeks:
- The limit will be 80% of the cost of the injured player, not counting the amortization of their federative rights. In addition, if the substitute's contract extends to future seasons (T+1 or later) and the club does not have sufficient Balance of the Sports Squad Cost Limit, or registration capacity for those future seasons, the registration will not be allowed.
The financial impact of Ter Stegen's absence on Barça
If a long-term absence is confirmed, Barça could free up to 80% of the German goalkeeper's salary. The '1' receives around 14 million euros gross per year, with which the club would free up about 11.2 'kilos', enough to amortize Joan García's registration.
The Catalan goalkeeper signed for six seasons, until June 2031, at a rate of about 3 million net per year. The transfer was closed at 25 M€ net plus the CPI (1.3 M€). In that sense, Ter Stegen's absence would allow resolving the incorporation of the former Espanyol goalkeeper, although it would be necessary to wait to see if his license is issued for the entire 25/26 season or only during the months that the Azulgrana captain is out.
In the previous year, LaLiga only granted licenses to Dani Olmo and Pau Víctor for the first half of the season, until December 31. In the case of the attacking midfielder, he was only able to play in the third matchday after Andreas Christensen's injury was confirmed.
From January 1, both players were unregistered because Barça failed to return to the 1:1 rule before then. This year, however, there is full confidence in operating under the rule before mid-August, when the 25/26 season officially starts.
Szczesny will not be able to 'benefit' from Ter Stegen's injury
However, the salary margin released with Marc-André's absence would not be enough to update Wojciech Szczesny's salary. The Pole recently renewed for two more years, until June 2027, and although his salary is one of the lowest in the squad (around 3 'kilos' gross per year), he will have to wait for future income at Can Barça to return to the official payroll.
Barcelona is still waiting to close several operations that will leave money in the bank. One of them, the sponsorship agreement with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, a nation that will pay just over 10 M€ per year to place a sponsor on the back of the official training and warm-up kit of the first men's and women's teams.
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