Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong has come out in defence of teammate Marc-Andre ter Stegen, despite reportedly being made persona non grata at Camp Nou. The 33-year-old, recently ruled out due to back surgery, is the subject of much debate in Catalonia.
Ter Stegen has been unhappy about Barcelona’s attempts to oust him with the signing of Joan Garcia, manager Hansi Flick telling him that he will be third choice this season. After announcing that he would be out of action for three months, it was taken as a deliberate attempt to stop Barcelona activating the emergency injury rule and using some of his salary limit space to register Garcia. In the aftermath, there has also been talk about ter Stegen being removed as captain.
Following Barcelona’s 7-3 victory over FC Seoul in their second preseason fixture, de Jong spoke to the media, and was asked about the matter. The Dutchman explained that he was behind the German.
“For me, Marc is the team captain, just as he was last season. Marc is a world-class player and has always given his all to the club, so I support Marc a lot, and from what I know, the team as well.”
On how his teammate had reacted to Barcelona’s move to bring in Garcia, de Jong told MD the new shot-stopper was a good addition.
“I don’t know, you’ll have to ask him. He [Garcia] has a lot of quality.”