Ter Stegen missed almost the entire last season due to injury, and also missed parts of the 2023 season. During the summer, the 33-year-old underwent back surgery, and he is expected to be out for several months.
Barcelona, which has three other goalkeepers in the squad, wants to get rid of injury-prone ter Stegen, while he himself wants to stay and fight to regain the role as first goalkeeper.
Refuses to sign
Now that ter Stegen will be out for several months, Barcelona wants to submit a document confirming his absence to La Liga, and thus open up salary space to be able to register new players.
But ter Stegen refuses to sign the document, which he must do for Barcelona to be able to share his medical information with the league, reveal sources to AP.
Ter Stegen also claims that the recovery time will be three months – the club believes it will take longer. La Liga's limit for clubs to be able to get rid of a player's salary is that the player is out for at least four months.
Selected by teammates
Now Barcelona wants to punish ter Stegen for not following the club's will. The club has turned to its lawyers to find out what punishment they can impose.
The German was chosen by his teammates as team captain last season, the team captain for the coming season has not been appointed yet.
The club has previously had problems registering players for financial reasons, for example Dani Olmo last season.
The team includes goalkeepers Wojciech Szczęsny, Iñaki Peña and new acquisition Joan Garcia.
