Marc-André ter Stegen is facing an unprecedented demotion in Barcelona – is he now looking for a new club?

FC Barcelona has a new goalkeeper. Joan García, 24, joins from Espanyol for the €25 million transfer fee stipulated in his contract. Last season, he was the La Liga goalkeeper with the most saves – albeit for a club battling relegation and often playing a more defensively oriented game. His old club didn't offer him warm words – the rivalry with their city rivals is too intense.

A man currently on vacation in Greece is duped by the move: Marc-André ter Stegen, Barça's established first-choice goalkeeper. He's been reading in the media for weeks what was officially confirmed on Friday: The newcomer is set to become the number one. What's more, according to consistent reports, the club is planning on using Wojciech Szczesny as the number two.

The Pole was recalled from retirement last season when ter Stegen tore the patellar tendon in his right knee. Szczesny delivered reliable performances and quickly made friends within the team. The veteran is considered more of a team player than ter Stegen and thus more compatible with a reserve role. Last but not least, García and Szczesny together don't earn as much as ter Stegen alone.

Financial necessities are one thing. The sporting component is something else entirely. The relationship between ter Stegen and Barça could always be considered a success story. At times, ter Stegen's saves were considered as crucial to Barça's success as Lionel Messi's genius up front.

Ter Stegen joined the club in 2014 and immediately won the Champions League. At that time, he rotated in goal with Chilean Claudio Bravo depending on the competition. In the summer of 2016, the German put the coach and board under pressure with an offer from Manchester City. At the time, they opted for ter Stegen, who was nine years younger than him. Nine years now separate ter Stegen from Joan García.

The changing circumstances at the club, however, are uncomfortable for ter Stegen from a completely different perspective: After waiting almost a decade for his chance to play for the German national team, the path finally seemed clear for him following Manuel Neuer's voluntary retirement. But at that very moment, ter Stegen tore his patellar tendon.

At first glance, this seems like a twist of fate. Ter Stegen had previously reluctantly accepted his role as second man in the national team. The number one who stood in his way was too superior: Manuel Neuer, who had shaped goalkeeping not only in Germany over the past fifteen years, was so unchallenged that even a top player like ter Stegen didn't need to make too loud demands.

However, Neuer still had the opportunity to play, as he was frequently injured. In 2022, when Neuer broke his shinbone on a ski tour after the World Cup in December, it was even questionable whether he would ever return. Ter Stegen stood in for him and vacated his place without protest when Neuer claimed it.

His Munich rival was under intense pressure. Julian Nagelsmann, now coach of the national team, was then coach of FC Bayern. While Neuer was recovering from his injury, he fired his confidant, goalkeeping coach Toni Tapalovic. Neuer intervened publicly with an interview , complaining of disloyalty – and ultimately returned to the national team after Nagelsmann took over from Flick, who had been dismissed in October 2023.

Nagelsmann has since become a strong advocate for ter Stegen. At the end of the Nations League, Nagelsmann said of ter Stegen's situation in Barcelona: "I would hope, given the past of some of the players and their connection to the national team and also to him, that he gets some information about what's going on."

This intense concern, bordering on meddling, is unusual for a national team coach. However, in Nagelsmann's case, it is anything but altruistic. He, too, needs to know what's next—and whether he'll have access to a goalkeeper who plays for a top European club in the future.

Given the long history, at least one thing is clear: Ter Stegen can't count on a compatriot bonus from coach Flick. The coach sees his sole obligation to the club. Furthermore, ter Stegen's public promotion and his time for a podcast with the "Bild" newspaper, which contradicts FC Barcelona's restrictive information policy, may have been met with disapproval. The fact that, in addition to ter Stegen's public self-promotion, his advisors also allegedly lobbied behind the scenes for an immediate comeback in the team in the spring is one of the things Flick dislikes most.

After all, he doesn't share a relationship with ter Stegen as close as he once did with Manuel Neuer at FC Bayern. Neuer's confidant Toni Tapalovic is now Flick's assistant at Barcelona—another connection that makes the case so explosive.

Now, before the decisive phase of the season, ter Stegen opened an untimely debate, which Flick had to address at every press conference. This behavior has changed the way he is viewed at the club. Especially since ter Stegen is no stranger to Flick. He, too, experienced the former Mönchengladbach player as the number two in the national team when he was head coach of the German national team. It's hardly surprising that Flick's vote fell in favor of Manuel Neuer, despite his rival's class.

As Joachim Löw's assistant, he was there during the 2014 World Cup victory, when Neuer was one of the key figures. Six years later, it was Neuer's saves that helped FC Bayern, coached by Flick, win the Champions League. What the coach must not have missed back then: whenever Bayern faced FC Barcelona with ter Stegen, the naturalized Catalan didn't exactly look the happiest. Bayern's 8-2 win in the Champions League quarter-finals was one such example. And when Neuer returned after a ten-month injury layoff, ter Stegen looked anything but confident in that long-distance duel that weekend.

However, these are world-class complaints. Now, however, ter Stegen faces an unprecedented demotion. He saw himself as a top performer who had worked hard for his comeback. Coach Flick, however, saw him as a captain who thought primarily of himself, not the team. Flick managed to avoid any tensions throughout the entire season and lift Barça onto a wave of euphoria. The coach sees internal harmony as essential for successful football.

It is doubtful that this will be guaranteed if ter Stegen stays at Barça after a possible demotion. And so it cannot be ruled out that ter Stegen will avoid the upcoming competition by changing clubs.