How Barcelona veteran’s potential surgery could help club register new signing

Barcelona captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen is currently weighing up the possibility of undergoing back surgery. 

The German goalkeeper has been dealing with ongoing discomfort, and surgery might be the best solution to fix the problem properly. However, if he chooses this route, Ter Stegen could be out of action for around four months.

This situation has put Barcelona in a difficult position, but it might also offer them a way to register new signing Joan Garcia. 

Right now, Barça are struggling with La Liga’s financial fair play rules and don’t have enough margin to register Garcia. 

Blessing in disguise

Interestingly, it must be noted that his name briefly appeared by mistake on La Liga’s website under the list of Barcelona players. 

The league quickly corrected this error, but it was enough to spark conversations about the club’s plans.

Now, according to Jijantes, if Ter Stegen has surgery, Barcelona could decide not to register him for the first part of the season. 

This would create enough salary space for the club to register Garcia instead. 

It is a move Barcelona have used before. Last summer, they kept Andreas Christensen unregistered while he recovered from an injury and used that space to register Dani Olmo and Pau Victor.

Exit could be pushed to January

At the moment, Barcelona are waiting for Ter Stegen to make his final decision. The 24-year-old Garcia is still officially unregistered, but things could change fast if Ter Stegen goes under the knife.

For Ter Stegen, this surgery would not only take him out of Barça’s plans for the next few months, but it would also rule out any possible summer transfer. 

However, if his recovery goes well, he could look for a new team in January. His goal is clear that he wants regular game time to stay sharp and fight for a place in Germany’s squad for the upcoming World Cup.