Barcelona set deadline for Marc-Andre ter Stegen return this season | OneFootball

One of the few major debates in Can Barca this season has been the goalkeeping position, with Wojciech Szczesny coming in after an injury to Marc-Andre ter Stegen. It has taken up plenty of time and questions during Hansi Flick’s press conference, and he could have another decision to make before the end of the season.

After ter Stegen was ruled out for seven to ten months in September, and with the possibility of him missing the rest of the season, it was decided that the Blaugrana needed to bring in another alternative to Inaki Pena. Veteran Szczesny was persuaded to come out of retirement on a one-year deal, but to the surprise of many, did not take the number one spot from Pena.

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However come January, the Polish goalkeeper did become the number one, despite Pena not making any mistakes, and the 34-year-old did make several in his first few starts. Szczesny has been consolidated as the number one now though, but ter Stegen’s fitness provides another area of uncertainty.

The German goalkeeper said that he was ‘working on it’ when asked whether he could return this season. The 32-year-old is delighted with the progress he is making, having now returned to working outside on the grass again. According to MD, there is still no clear return date for the club captain though, and it will not be until the end of March when they will make a decision for the rest of the season.

Once they have a month of training sessions and analysis to work off, Barcelona will decide whether ter Stegen will return this year or wait until next season. It certainly looks like a tricky call for Flick to make either way though, with Szczesny now performing well – Barcelona have not lost a game with him in goal.