According to Mundo Deportivo, which cited unnamed sources, FC Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has decided on Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s future if Joan Garcia joins the team from Espanyol this summer.
Garcia, a breakthrough 2024–2025 star, has reportedly reached an agreement with the Catalans ahead of RAC1, according to a newspaper report this week alone. The report claims that Barca President Joan Laporta told his board that Ter Stegen should be sold if their top transfer target is ultimately signed.
Naturally, the opinion of Spanish treble winner Flick will also be significant, even though Laporta and Sporting Director Deco have the final say over who comes or goes. Compatriots Flick and Ter Stegen likely have a good relationship because of their time together when the former led the German national team, but according to people close to the tactician who spoke to Mundo Deportivo without identifying themselves, if Garcia shows up, Ter Stegen “will have to look for a way out if the wants to play next season.”
Given that Barca has a “firm and strong” commitment to Garcia, the technical staff is in “total harmony” with the board and the sports management department regarding the possible coup and Garcia’s status as Blaugrana’s top goal scorer in 2025–2026, should it materialise.
Ter Stegen has a contract that expires on June 30, 2028, so he is not required to go on, but he could want to think about the upcoming World Cup at the end of the following season. In an effort to persuade Julian Nagelsmann that he ought to be the goalie for Germany in the US, Canada, and Mexico, he will prefer to play for a team where he is a starter and will see a lot of action.
Regretfully, that may need him to leave Barcelona, where he has been a consistent player since 2014 while healthy. There is fierce competition for FC Barcelona’s goalkeeping position. Whether Garcia comes or not, there is a lot of rivalry to be FC Barcelona’s primary goalkeeper among Wojciech Szczesny, Ter Stegen and Inaki Pena, while not even considering young American potential Diego Kochen.
