Barcelona were embroiled in controversy throughout the summer due to their pursuit and subsequent signing of goalkeeper Joan Garcia from Espanyol. Ter Stegen, who had been serving as the club’s undisputed first-choice custodian for the past decade, was not pleased with the club’s interest in the young Spaniard and went to ‘war’ with the Catalans’ board.
Having trained away from the team during pre-season, Ter Stegen underwent lower back surgery and posted an individual statement without notifying Barca, much to the club’s fury. Amid Ter Stegen’s war with the Blaugrana and Garcia’s arrival, there were fears that the summer signing’s registration could fail to be completed in time for the start of La Liga. The former Borussia Monchengladbach keeper’s refusal to give consent for the sharing of his medical reports led not only led to the threat of legal proceedings, but also saw him being stripped of captaincy. However, the two parties eventually reached middle ground and Ter Stegen was swiftly reinstated as the team’s first captain.
In an interview with Mundo Deportivo Deco was asked why Barca went after Garcia despite Ter Stegen still being a part of the squad. “The two things are completely unrelated,” Deco responded.
“Too many problems have been created here where none exist. First of all, Marc is a great goalkeeper, captain of the team, he has a history with the club that we respect and value, and he can still make history because he is a 33-year-old goalkeeper, which is not an advanced age. The thing is, it wasn’t because of Marc. When he got injured, we realized we had few goalkeepers and we turned to look for goalkeepers, something that wasn’t in the plans. We wanted a young goalkeeper. If we were looking for immediate results, we would look for someone aged 28 or 30. Why a young player? Because they can give you the present and the future. That was the idea with Joan. That’s how it is, but here things get blown out of proportion.”
He further explained the situation and added: “But let’s see. There’s no such thing as explaining anything to any player. I repeat, there’s no issue, there’s no problem with Ter Stegen and Joan Garcia. We looked at the goalkeeping situation when Marc got injured the first time, we’re not looking for a replacement for Marc.
“We have a problem because when we look around, we only have Iñaki and the other goalkeepers are very young. One of the things, before we started signing any goalkeepers, which is why we have to remember and not just focus on the controversial issues, we talked to [Jose Ramon] Alexanko and [Jose de la Fuente], the head of goalkeepers, and we said that Ander [Astralaga] and Diego [Kochen] had to play. And one had to be with us and the other had to play in the reserve team.
“And we started working in that direction because they are the two we believe are closest, but we didn’t have a third goalkeeper and we need to have one we can trust, preferably from the club. So we turned to looking at goalkeepers. And it got worse when Marc got injured last season. It’s a matter of planning, of not leaving yourself with a problem for the future. After that, it’s up to the coach to decide who’s going to play.”
Tied to Barca until June 2028, Ter Stegen is currently recovering from his lower back surgery. He is expected to return to action in late November or early December. While the expectation is that Garcia will retain his place as the first-choice goalkeeper, Deco clarified that “if Ter Steger were available, he would be playing.” However, he didn’t comment much on his future at the club, adding that the goalkeeper “has a contract, and that’s how it is.”
