Barça intensifies the conflict with Ter Stegen and now strips him of the team's captaincy.

Marc-André ter Stegen is no longer Barça's captain. At least not for now. In the ongoing standoff between the Blaugrana club and the German goalkeeper, the club has decided to go one step further, despite his teammates' continued support for the goalkeeper during the Asian tour. Of course, with the approval of both Deco and Hansi Flick . "FC Barcelona informs that, following the disciplinary proceedings opened against the player Marc-André ter Stegen, and until this process is definitively resolved, the club, in agreement with the Sporting Directorate and the technical staff , has decided to temporarily remove him as captain of the first team," the club stated concisely in a statement.

The case against the player is due to his refusal to sign a consent form to share his medical data with the LaLiga Medical Commission, which is expected to determine, in principle, how long he will be sidelined after undergoing surgery to resolve a recurrence of his lower back problems, which required surgery two years ago. If his absence were to exceed four months, part of his salary could be used to register new players, including Joan García , who is expected to be the starter between the sticks this season, but the German argues that under no circumstances should he be sidelined for more than three months.

For the time being, the man tasked with taking over as first captain will be Uruguayan Ronald Araujo , whose name has been on the chopping block for the past few months. The center-back, in this case, should initially be the one in charge of giving the traditional speech to the fans before the Joan Gamper Trophy, which will be played next Sunday at the Johan Cruyff Stadium.

If the decision to strip Ter Stegen of the captaincy is ultimately finalized, the German will be one of the shortest-serving captains in Barça history, having only held the position for a mere year. His promotion came following Sergi Roberto 's departure from the club in August of last year, although he had been part of the Barcelona captaincy group for some time, having worn the armband in matches where the versatile player had been off the pitch.

Before the club announced its decision to strip him of the captaincy, Ter Stegen was at Barça's training complex on Thursday morning. The goalkeeper attended for a medical and spent a few minutes with his teammates, but he didn't exchange a single word with manager Hansi Flick, who reportedly criticized him for a series of actions by his compatriot in the final stretch of last season that didn't sit well with him. These included his attempt to make a comeback in the Champions League, which would have meant Szczesny would have been forced out of the league in Europe's top competition, and his refusal to speak to the fans after the final home La Liga match against Villarreal, in which he started and in which the Blaugrana ultimately lost 3-2.