Barcelona captain set for a crucial meeting with Hansi Flick a few days before the start of the pre-season training | OneFootball

FC Barcelona have already made their first signing of 2025 as they officially signed the goalkeeper Joan Garcia after paying his €25 million release clause a few days ago.

With this signing, the Blaugranes have got one of the most promising goalkeepers in La Liga last season, one who can go on to defend their goal for several years to come.

However, his arrival is also going to create some problems for the Catalan club, as he is expected to be the starter for Hansi Flick, thus pushing other, more senior players down in the pecking order.

Ter Stegen set to meet Hansi Flick ahead of the preseason training

Photo by Pedro Salado/Getty Images

The situation is going to be particularly worrisome for Marc-Andre ter Stegen, as he is not even going to be the back-up, as this honour is going to Wojciech Szczesny.

There is no doubt that this is a very difficult situation for the German goalkeeper, especially as he will be looking for a spot in the German national team for the World Cup next year.

To get to a meaningful resolution to his situation, the Barcelona captain is expected to meet with the Blaugrana coach Hansi Flick, and according to Diario AS, this meeting is set to take place a few days before the start of preseason training on July 13th.

The coach will take a blunt approach

The report goes on to mention that Flick, who himself played a part in Garcia’s signing, is not going to make things up, and will take a blunt approach to explain the situation to ter Stegen.

It needs to be remembered at this point that the coach already has had such a conversation with the goalkeeper when he picked Manuel Neuer over him for a starting spot for the World Cup 2022 when he was coaching the German national team.

Similarly, Flick has also had such difficult conversations with other Barcelona players, most notably Ilkay Gundogan and Ansu Fati. While letting ter Stegen know of his changed situation, Flick also respects signed contracts and will allow him to stay in the team if he accepts his changed status.

Meanwhile, Barcelona themselves are hoping for a quick resolution of the matter, before the start of the Asian tour, but for now, everything depends on ter Stegen himself. He is hurt by the club, and in addition to his contract till 2028, also has some deferred amounts pending to be paid by the Blaugranes.