Barcelona captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen could be heading for a shock exit as his relationship with Hansi Flick has reportedly soured in recent months.
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Ter Stegen's fall made clearBarcelona bringing in GarciaGerman to be offered deal to leaveFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
writes that Ter Stegen reacted badly to being overlooked in the latter stages of Barcelona's Champions League run, having returned from a long-term knee injury in early May. Flick stuck with Wojciech Szczesny for the second leg of the semi-final against Inter, to Ter Stegen's apparent displeasure. But instead of travelling with the rest of the squad to Milan in support, like others who were unavailable did, he stayed behind to train alone.
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His attitude hasn't been well received by the rest of the squad and it might better explain why Barcelona have been so keen to sign Joan Garcia from Espanyol, with that deal expected to be confirmed soon. If Garcia is installed as number on and Szczesny remains as backup, there isn't room for Ter Stegen.
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Ter Stegen's relationship with Flick is rumoured not to have been the best even before the latter arrived to succeed Xavi last summer. It stems from Flick's time in charge of the German national team and his preference for Manuel Neuer, over Ter Stegen, as starter.
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Ter Stegen's choice is to stay as third choice and not play, or move on. The club stands to save significant money from a salary perspective if they can offload him and a separate report claims that Barcelona are even prepared to offer a year's wages as a lump sum to end his contract. But whether he takes that deal – even though staying and not playing would kill his chances of starting for Germany at the World Cup next summer – remains unclear, as adds that the club don't expect Ter Stegen to make it easy.
