The Athletic wrote an article talking about the current situation of Ter Stegen and said that another Barcelona captain is being forced to leave the team.
TA wrote:
With Barcelona about to sign Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia, a familiar situation is looming over Barcelona. Garcia's arrival seems likely to have an impact on Ter Stegen, which is used to persuade Ter Stegen to leave the team.
Since joining from Borussia Mönchengladbach in 2014 for a transfer fee of 12.6 million euros, Ter Stegen has won 19 championships with Barcelona, including the 2014-15 Champions League and six La Liga titles.
Telstegen, 33, was elected as the captain of Barcelona's 2024-25 season by teammates last summer, but suffered a knee injury in September cost him most of the season to recover. As a countermeasure, the club signed Szczesni, who was 35 years old, served as the main goalkeeper at the end of the season while Barcelona won La Liga and Copa del Rey.
As the transfer window approaches, Barcelona chairman Laporta hinted in May that the goalkeeper position will usher in a more significant adjustment in the summer.
Laporta told Catalan's local broadcaster TV3: "The goalkeeper's problem must be paid attention. I think Szczesni's matter is progressing quite well, and I hope this can continue."
When Barcelona management determined that Catalan's 24-year-old goalkeeper Garcia was a market opportunity that should not be missed, the situation became more complicated.
Another complex factor is the financial situation that Barcelona has always troubled. Currently, their total salary has exceeded the cap allowed by La Liga, so if they do reach an agreement, neither Garcia nor Szczesny will be able to register for the 2025-26 season. Szczesny has been offered a new two-year contract.
Telstegen is one of the few players who are still in the club's "Batomeu period". However, his contract extension to 2028 was signed during his tenure at Laporta. In the 22-23 season, Ter Stegen set a record of 26 clean sheets in 38 games, helping Barcelona win the La Liga championship. The contract was soon reached, and it also allowed Ter Stegen to accept the delay of part of the total salary to the later stage of the contract. The low salary first and high later helped Barcelona complete La Liga registration for new players that summer, but it also means annual salary increases over time.
All this sounds familiar, because the above situation is extremely similar to the events that happened three years ago. At that time, Barcelona's management decided that De Jong should be sold. Manchester United was willing to pay at least €75 million to sign De Jong at the time, but he did not want to leave.
During the stalemate at the time, Marca released details of the De Jong contract they claimed to have obtained, saying that his salary would allegedly rise to €40 million before tax in the following season. Barcelona executives pressed De Jong and his team to give up his previous agreement with Bartomeu's board of directors and even threatened to take legal action.
De Jong was determined and refused to leave or give up the money he deserved. But speculation about his future and media talk about his salary continues over the next few seasons, especially whenever Barcelona struggles to complete the La Liga registration for a new signing player.
De Jong said at a pre-Champions League press conference in February 2024: "I'm very angry at the way you write my things or talk about me, some of you have been writing lies. I don't know why you are not ashamed. You said I make about 40 million euros a year... I won't reveal the specific numbers, but it's purely a lie. Barcelona is the club in my life, playing football here was once my dream, and it's still."
De Jong is far from the only person who has felt this frustration at Barcelona in recent years. Busquets, Pique, Alba and Dembele have all been put under pressure to leave the team by local media.
A close source from a former Barcelona player who has experienced such treatment directly said: "Players know that they use these strategies to make them scapegoats for the club's financial difficulties, and fans know them."
Another player who feels the pressure of leaving the team is Rafinia, whose future was scrutinized last summer. Rafinia knew at the time that some people within the club wanted to raise funds by selling him to sign Biba striker Nico Williams, who had also considered the possibility of transferring to Saudi Arabia.
But Rafinia stayed and helped Barcelona win La Liga, Copa del Rey and Super Cup in Spain with 34 goals and 24 assists. Such an outstanding performance paid off for him, and a new contract with better conditions was signed at the end of May.
However, Rafinia still seems to be frustrated by what happened last summer. He recently recalled how sad he was when he saw a fan wearing a Barcelona jersey with his back number 11 and Nico's name in October.
Rafinia said in an interview with World Sports after signing a new contract: "Last summer, many people wanted me to leave here, many fans, maybe the club's board of directors was not satisfied with my performance, many people..."
Now it seems that it is Ter Stegen's turn. Local radio station RAC1 reported that Laporta told other board members that Barcelona would seek to sell him after signing Garcia. World Sports claimed that even if Ter Stegen stays in the team, head coach Frick will make Garcia the No. 1 goalkeeper next season.
This directly led to some embarrassment when Terstegen faced reporters at the European Union training camp last weekend. Most of the issues are about his future at Barcelona, not his physical recovery and his hope to become the starting goalkeeper of the national team.
Telstegen replied: "No one in the club has ever talked to me about this, so I'm not worried, I know I'll still be in Barcelona next season. There is nothing to discuss. If I remember correctly and the situation has not changed recently, Barcelona will have two goalkeepers next season. ”
But this did not stop speculation. Online media Jijantes criticized Ter Stegen's answer for lack of respect for Szczesny. They interpreted that the two goalkeepers that Ter Stegen refers to are himself and Penia. The World Sports reported that Barcelona's sports director Deko would inform Ter Stegen that he would be the third choice next season. Marca claimed that his annual salary before tax was 20 million euros.
Such media reports do affect fans' perceptions of players, especially in a transparent "fish tank" environment like Barcelona. Many comments criticized when Barcelona recently promoted a club-produced video about Ter Stegen's return from injury on social media. His performance also has the hashtag #Telstegen OUT#.
Social media obviously cannot accurately measure the true feelings of most Barcelona fans, but experience tells us that players who are considered redundant by the club's management, such as De Jong and Dembele, will feel very uncomfortable, including being whistled and cheered by their own fans in home games.
Telstegen is a very strong person who clearly wants to stay in the club. He believes that he has received support from the locker room, and many teammates there will also express sympathy for his current situation.
For better or worse, dealing with this situation has long become an indispensable part of Barcelona's players' affairs today.