Marc Andre ter Stegen, The 33 year old veteran goalkeeper in Barcelona team and captain of the Blaugrana which is at the core of an emerging power struggle, which could cost his role both at the club and in the team. It started escalating when he refused to sign a medical report after going through a back surgery information that was necessary in order to have Barcelona register other replacement goalkeepers such as Joan Garcia and Wojciech Szczesny in line with the financial regulations of LaLiga. Consequently, disciplinary action has been initiated by the club, and Ronald Araujo was given the armband of the captain till the end of the case.
“Selfish and demanding actions”
This degenerated further, when the former Valencia goalkeeper Santiago Canizares lashed out at ter Stegen by terming his actions as selfish and demanding considering his position as captain and the short playing time among other factors. Critics blame him of acting against the overall interest and causing division of the team, which is not suitable behavior as a leader.
Supported by different associations
However, ter Stegen does not lose his supporters. He has publicly been supported by the Spanish Footballers Association (AFE) and Germany Football Federation (DFB) in regard of the right to medical privacy and his importance to the clubs and nation. In the meantime, relations with coach Hansi Flick and sporting director Deco are increasingly fraught over his future with the former allegedly demanding his ousting due to institutional issues of poor leadership and performance.
Because the 33 year old goalkeeper is insistent that he does not want to have his medical information surrendered, it is not only complicating the captaincy and roster balancing act but has plunged the dressing room togetherness to a new low adding to that is the troubled transfer strategy of Barcelona. His contract at Camp Nou with the club only ending in 2028 means that the next few weeks won the deciding factor not only his future at the club, but whether the club has a future.
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