The personnel situation in FC Barcelona’s goal is becoming increasingly precarious. In a major interview, sporting director Deco spoke about the “ter Stegen case” and the near future of the German national goalkeeper.
When FC Barcelona celebrated a 2-1 home win over Real Sociedad on Sunday, Wojciech Szczesny was in goal for the Catalans. He is someone who had actually declared his career over in August 2024 – but changed his mind for Barcelona. On the bench were Eder Aller, an 18-year-old Spaniard, and Diego Kochen, a 19-year-old American.
The personnel situation between the posts is precarious. In addition to captain Marc-André ter Stegen, who is likely to be in rehab until December following back surgery, his chosen successor Joan Garcia is also currently sidelined. The signing of the Spaniard and the associated “demotion” of ter Stegen had sparked one of the biggest controversies of the summer.
But how did this actually come about? Sporting director Deco gave an interview to the club-affiliated Mundo Deportivo and also commented in detail on the “ter Stegen case.” “Day-to-day business sometimes forces us to make certain decisions,” the former midfield dynamo began his remarks: “Two years ago, no one would have thought of signing a goalkeeper so quickly. Circumstances led us to do so.“
Joan Garcia or ter Stegen? ”Ultimately depends on the coach”
According to Deco, Barcelona began searching for reinforcements for the goal as early as November 2023, when ter Stegen first injured his back. They wanted someone who could be a present and, above all, a future solution. The promising options from their own ranks lacked playing time and experience.
So this summer, the choice finally fell on Joan Garcia, the great support of their city rivals. “In Joan’s case, the decisive factor was that he is very intelligent. I know it’s difficult to leave Espanyol, a city rival, but I believe that Barcelona’s goal was actually an opportunity for him in the present, because Marc has been injured again and Joan is therefore getting this chance to prove himself.”
Deco managed to convince Joan Garcia of the “project,” but: “Whether he plays ultimately depends on the coach.” Ter Stegen’s injury is currently taking this decision out of Hansi Flick’s hands. Probably until December.
Will Barcelona then clear the way for ter Stegen to get the playing time he urgently needs for the World Cup and which national coach Julian Nagelsmann has demanded? Deco, at any rate, has no plans in this direction. “We have problems with the goalkeepers,” he clarified instead: “We had to bring Kochen in from Chile, even though the U-20 World Cup was important for him. We had to call the US federation and explain to the coach that we were in a very difficult situation.“
The following words were quite remarkable. ”If Marc were available, he would definitely play,“ Deco believes: ”He has a contract, and that’s just the way it is.“
Ter Stegen ”can still make history”
The Portuguese coach does not want to hear anything about a changing of the guard or even demotion: “Too many problems have been created where there are none. First of all, Marc is a great goalkeeper, team captain, he has a history at this club that we respect and appreciate, and he can still make history because he is a 33-year-old goalkeeper and therefore not old. It’s not about Marc, but about the fact that when he gets injured, we realize that we only have a few goalkeepers.“
Deco maintains his position from June that ter Stegen does not have to explain the planned signing in advance. ”It’s not the done thing to explain something like that to a player. There is also no ter Stegen case. We took care of the goalkeeper position when Marc was injured for the first time; we are not looking for a replacement for Marc.“ Deco said they wanted to avoid a ”problem for the future“ and then repeated: ”The coach decides who plays in the end.”
