Hansi Flick has confirmed that Marc-André ter Stegen will return to the Barcelona squad for Tuesday’s Champions League match against Eintracht Frankfurt, but the coach is not changing his plans for the goalkeeper position.
Speaking at a press conference on Monday, Flick had a brief but clear response to the questions about Ter Stegen’s return and said that summer signing Joan Garcia will remain the team’s number one shot-stopper.
“It’s clear, Joan is my number one goalkeeper. Yes, [Ter Stegen] could be included in the squad against Eintracht.”
Reports from Catalan media also say that Ter Stegen will be the team’s third goalkeeper behind backup Wojciech Szczesny, making it clear that the German will have to seek playing time elsewhere if he wants to return to action in time to earn his spot in the national team squad for the World Cup.
Plenty of teams around Europe have expressed interest in Ter Stegen’s services ahead of the January transfer window, and the goalkeeper already knows his current coach doesn’t plan on using him.
