Football Espana
·4 agosto 2025
The sanctions Barcelona face if Marc-Andre ter Stegen returns ahead of injury rule diagnosis

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Yahoo sportsFootball Espana
·4 agosto 2025
Barcelona have maintained confidence in their ability to register their new signings Roony Bardghji, Marcus Rashford and Joan Garcia without making any further sales. President Joan Laporta has also maintained that they will not need to make use of the emergency injury rule in order to register Garcia.
If a player is injured for four months, then clubs in La Liga are able to use 50% of their allocated salary limit cost to register a replacement, a margin which increases to 80% if the absence is five months or more. After it was reported Marc-Andre ter Stegen might need surgery on his back issue, it was assumed Barcelona would utilise it for Garcia, given he is yet to be registered. However ter Stegen announced that he would be out for just three months.
La Liga’s decision on whether to green light the change would hinge on ter Stegen’s medical report. The word has been that Dr. Amelie Leglise, his surgeon, has given Barcelona a medical report that would give ter Stegen a prognosis of four to five months out. The Catalan giants also need his signature to send the report to La Liga though, and Director of Football Deco is expected to discuss the matter with the German veteran this week.
Image via David Ramos/Getty Images
There are checks and balances to the rule though. MD say that if ter Stegen were not out for at least three months (having presented the absence as four months), or out for at least four months (having presented the absence as five months or more), La Liga could penalise Barcelona. The specified sanction would impact their salary limit, with La Liga reducing it by three times ter Stegen’s salary in this case. As one of the highest earners in the Barcelona squad, Barcelona can ill-afford to take the matter lightly.