The 2025 summer transfer window saw plenty of drama involving Barcelona, with both their own players and those of other clubs. For the former, the most notable situation involved Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, who had been temporarily stripped of the captaincy after initially refusing to help the club de-register him.
Barcelona had been struggling to register Joan Garcia in time for their La Liga opener against Mallorca, and it was eventually decided that they would go down the route of de-register Ter Stegen, who had recently undergone surgery to fix a problematic back injury. However, the player had blocked the club’s attempts, before ultimately relenting.
There was a lot of bad blood regarding the incident, although it has been resolved now. On it, Barcelona head coach Hans Flick admitted to SportBild (via Sport) that those involved – including himself- could have handled things better.
“If everything related to communication was always handled in the best way? I think there is a lot to improve, even on my part. For me it is important that Marc and the club have reached out and sought genuine communication. It’s important that Marc returns now. He is a top goalkeeper and will receive all the support he needs from us so that he can play at his current level again.”
Flick reveals why Garcia is preferred to Ter Stegen
Earlier in the summer, it had been decided that Garcia would replace Ter Stegen as the club’s number one goalkeeper, which is where some of the animosity stemmed from. Flick revealed why the former Espanyol stopper, who is currently out injured, was chosen to be the main man between the sticks.
“With Joan Garcia we have a very young and very talented goalkeeper, who is already at a very high level, and between all of us we decided that he should be the future of Barcelona. So our approach was clear.”
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