Opinion
Barça’s handling of Ter Stegen is completely disrespectful
FC Barcelona degrades Marc-André Ter Steg to number three, and the keeper no longer takes part in team training. A player of his caliber didn’t deserve that.
Professional football is a brutal business. The performance principle applies – on and off the square. This means that players, trainers and officials have to live. Marc-André Ter Stegen is currently feeling this at FC Barcelona with full hardness. According to various media reports, coach Hansi Flick informed the national goalkeeper that he is not set for the Spanish champion for the coming season. The goalkeeper competitors Joan García and Wojciech Szczęsny are therefore in front of him.
Barça apparently no longer plans in terms of sport with the 33-year-old, who returned to the squad in April after a serious knee injury. There is nothing wrong with that, so things are at the highest level. However, the way is the way the club deals with the club.
Ter Stegen: From the pitch bird to the beaten dog
Ter Stegen has recently not even participated in team training, but completes individual units. FC Barcelona mentions back problems of the keeper as the reason for this. Various media doubts that: Barça is said to have sorted out the Stegen and now wants to move it to a change. His contract runs until 2028.
Ter Stegen didn’t deserve that. He was always patient and loyal – both at DFB and FC Barcelona. But luck was often not a hold: In August 2024, Manuel Neuer, his years of opponent in the German goal, had announced his resignation from the national team. Finally the path was clear for Ter Stegen, who had previously gave number two in the DFB team. The shock followed promptly: just one month after Neuer’s announcement, Ter Stegen suffered a tear of the patella tendon and failed for a long time. Shortly before his comeback, a personal setback became public: the separation from wife Daniela.
During the Stegen absence, FC Barcelona noticed that it was going without him. Szczęsny guarded the goal in the end of the season, Barça became champion. Now the club, plagued by debts, is apparently wanting to cut the top earner ter Stegen from the salary list. True to the motto: away with that! This is unworthy of a player of his caliber.
Similar way of dealing with Gündoğan
The former DFB captain İlkay Gündoğan near Barça had a similar experience. He returned to Manchester City in Barcelona last summer after just one year and justified this step even with persistent financial difficulties by the Catalans. According to media reports, the club management had put pressure on the midfielder so that he leaves the club. Now Ter Stegen could suffer the same fate.
No player is above the club, already of course. “Més Que un Club” – “More than one club” – is the slogan of FC Barcelona. An association that claims this should prove real size and respect its players more – especially seasoned professionals like Ter Stegen. The German played more than 400 competitive games for Barça, won 19 titles with the club and is captain of the team. So thanks for that.
If a player like Ter Stegen is only seen as a burden on the cash register, the question arises: Who wants to become a club legend at all? In the deteriorated industry of professional football, you long for “real types” that at best play for a club all your life. Fans criticize players who do not identify with their club. “Judas”, “traitor”, it says. But who can blame the professionals their infidelity if clubs deal with them like Barça now with ter Stegen?
Source: Stern
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
