Marc-Andre ter Stegen travels for operation, but claims relations with Barcelona are ‘good’

Barcelona captain and goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has claimed that his relationship with the club is good, despite widespread reporting to the contrary. The German veteran will have surgery to address an ongoing back pain on Tuesday.

Ter Stegen is currently traveling to Bordeaux in France to have surgery on his back, where he will again be operated on by Dr. Amelie Leglise. It has been claimed that Barcelona are highly irritated with ter Stegen, after he announced he would be out for three months after the surgery – medical experts have also indicated that he could be out for four months or more. Were the latter to be the case, Barcelona could use 80% of his wages to register other players due to an injury rule, but ter Stegen’s announcement could make that tricky.

Speaking to Sport at Barcelona’s El Prat airport, ter Stegen maintained that relations with the club were fine, saying “The relationship with the club is good, always good, intact.”

“If you have to have surgery, I think something’s wrong, right?” he laughed when asked about his physical condition.

The facts suggest otherwise. Diario AS say that ter Stegen has traveled alone to France, refusing to be accompanied by Barcelona staff. They also note that clubs are not permitted to provide injury information on a player without their permission, and thus may not be allowed to announce how long ter Stegen is out after the operation – preventing the Catalan giants from disputing his announcement in public.

They can however submit a medical report to La Liga, who would review the information and make a decision on whether Barcelona can activate the injury rule. The Blaugrana are hence awaiting the medical report from Dr. Leglise with much anticipation, as it could have an important impact.