Barcelona prepared to strip Marc-Andre Ter Stegen of captaincy role | OneFootball

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen is facing a very uncertain future at Barcelona, and he could take another step towards the exit door in the coming weeks. The club want to move him on, but despite having replaced him with new signing Joan Garcia, doing so will be much easier said than done.

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen facing uncertain Barcelona future

Ter Stegen’s situation has attracted significant speculation in recent weeks. Several reports have stated that Barcelona want him gone in order to free up space in their wage bill, but the 33-year-old is determined to stay and claim the starting goalkeeper spot next season – although he has shown some signs of accepting an exit, but only on his terms.

Barcelona have yet to communicate their stance to Ter Stegen, who is enjoying time off ahead of the start of pre-season in July. But it is at this time that his prominence within Can Barca could drop further.

As reported by MD, there are members of the Barcelona hierarchy that want Ter Stegen to be stripped of the club’s captaincy. He is currently first captain ahead of Frenkie de Jong, Ronald Araujo and Raphinha, but given that he will not have any prominence next season if he holds firm on his decision to stay, there is a belief that he should not hold the position.

Barcelona identify Ter Stegen replacement in captains group

Hansi Flick will be the one to make the final decision on whether Ter Stegen will lose the captaincy, as he is also the one to decide who will be Barcelona’s starting goalkeeper next season. But if he is removed, Inigo Martinez has been tipped to replace him in the group of captains.

Image via ABC

Removing Ter Stegen’s captaincy role would be another sign that Barcelona are not counting on him for the future, and with the 2026 World Cup taking place next summer, the Germany international may have to relax his hard-line stance of staying in Catalonia. For now, it remains to be seen how the situation plays out.