BARCELONA: Barcelona stripped Marc-Andre ter Stegen of the captaincy on Thursday as a feud escalated between the Germany goalkeeper and the club over his injury status amid the Catalans’ attempts to register new signings.

Ter Stegen’s place is under threat from one of the summer signings, 24-year-old Joan Garcia, and 35-year-old Wojciech Szczesny, the Polish veteran who has been rewarded with a contract extension for taking over during last season’s Liga title-winning campaign.

Barca were likely expecting to sell Ter Stegen, 33, to make space in their wage bill for Garcia and Manchester United loanee Marcus Rashford.

However, Ter Stegen had to have more surgery to finish repairing a multiple knee ligament tear sustained last season, closing the door for him to leave in the close-season transfer window and forcing Barca to try a different approach.

The club asked Ter Stegen to sign a long-term medical leave that would allow them to clear 80% of his wages until mid-season and comply with La Liga’s Financial Fair Play rules.

But Ter Stegen’s announcement on social media that he would be sidelined for only three months irked the club management as La Liga rules require a player to remain out of action for at least four months to be considered a long-term injury.

“FC Barcelona announces that, following the disciplinary proceedings opened against player Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and until this matter is definitively resolved, the club, in agreement with the Sports Management and the technical staff, has decided to temporarily remove him as captain of the first team,” Barca said in a statement.

“During this period, the duties of first captain will be assumed by the current vice-captain, Ronald Araujo.”

The controversy highlights Barcelona’s financial struggles as they have battled to register new signings for several years running. The club are set to begin their La Liga title defence on Aug 16 at Mallorca amid the continuing captaincy crisis.

The club plans to partly reopen its expensively renovated Camp Nou stadium this month.

Published in Dawn, August 8th, 2025