Ceasefire between ter Stegen and Barcelona regarding firearms - Peace agreement reached by both parties
After a tense standoff, football goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen and FC Barcelona have reached a compromise that is set to bring relief to the Spanish club.
Ter Stegen's decision to share his medical data with La Liga has enabled Barcelona to classify his injury as a long-term one, freeing up valuable salary space under La Liga's financial fair play regulations. This move has paved the way for the registration of goalkeeper Joan García for the 2025–26 La Liga season, making him available for the upcoming league opener against Mallorca.
Initially, Ter Stegen had refused to authorise the club to send his medical details to La Liga, delaying the process. However, after being temporarily stripped of the captaincy, he reversed his decision, and the club submitted the required medical information on August 8. La Liga’s medical committee then ruled his back injury qualifies as long-term, generally defined as an injury expected to last at least four months. This ruling allows Barcelona to treat a large part of Ter Stegen's salary as exempt from their salary cap, thus enabling the registration of new signings like García, who cost around €25 million and was signed from local rivals Espanyol.
The implications of this agreement are twofold. Firstly, Joan García is now officially registered and eligible to play immediately, resolving Barcelona’s urgent goalkeeping shortage. Secondly, the club gains financial flexibility to register other new players, although additional work is still needed to register other signings like Marcus Rashford, Roony Bardghji, Wojciech Szczęsny, and Gerard Martín. Barcelona’s board is preparing financial guarantees to meet La Liga’s fair play rules and register these players.
The agreement has been positively evaluated by Spanish sports media, with "Mundo Deportivo" referring to it as a "ceasefire for the benefit of all." Ter Stegen has been reinstated as team captain by FC Barcelona, and the disciplinary proceedings against him have been dropped.
This development could suggest that Ter Stegen’s time playing for Barcelona may be over, given the injury circumstances and the official long-term classification, although this is not confirmed explicitly by the club. In summary, Ter Stegen’s cooperation in providing his medical data to La Liga has been critical in solving Barcelona’s registration problems for Joan García and possibly other signings, offering essential squad and financial relief early in the 2025-26 season.
- The compromise reached by Marc-André ter Stegen and FC Barcelona, involving the sharing of ter Stegen's medical data, has opened up possibilities for employment policy adjustments, as it has allowed for the registration of goalkeeper Joan García under La Liga's financial fair play regulations, thus freeing up valuable salary space.
- In light of the classification of Ter Stegen's injury as long-term, the employment policy at FC Barcelona has been modified to accommodate new signings such as Marcus Rashford, Roony Bardghji, Wojciech Szczęsny, and Gerard Martín, who will cost a combined reported fee of around €100 million, if financial guarantees can be provided to meet La Liga's fair play rules.
