Just in: Ter Stegen will not return to Barcelona after injury blow at Girona | OneFootball

FC Barcelona are closely monitoring the situation of Marc-Andre ter Stegen, who has suffered an injury while playing for Girona, the club where he is on loan until the end of the season.

Having joined the Catalan outfit on loan not so long ago, the 33-year-old shot-stopper picked up a thigh injury in his second appearance against Real Oviedo this past weekend – one which could sideline him for three to four months.

It gave way to speculations that Ter Stegen’s loan spell at Girona could be cut short and that he could return to Barcelona.

Barcelona rule out Ter Stegen

However, according to Mundo Deportivo, Barcelona are very clear that, from a contractual point of view, there is no possibility of terminating the loan agreement with Girona and bringing Ter Stegen back before June.

Sources within the club insist that the agreement remains valid and will continue unchanged until the end of the season. Therefore, once the German goalkeeper recovers, he will be at the disposal of Michel and not of Hansi Flick.

Barcelona do not rule out that Ter Stegen could carry out part of his rehabilitation at the Ciutat Esportiva, as Hector Fort has been doing.

However, regarding the loan agreement signed with Girona, the player’s registration and the salary payments that the Montilivi club must assume, Barça are adamant that nothing will be altered from what has already been agreed.

RFEF rules prohibit return

Ter Stegen is injured. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Moreover, Ter Stegen’s return to Barcelona at this stage would be impossible under the Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) rules, given that the goalkeeper has been registered as a Girona player since 25 January.

This is established in Article 53 of the new Competition Regulations of the RFEF, which states verbatim that:

 “A player may only be registered with one team of a club, without the possibility of being deregistered and re-registered by the same club during the same season, except in cases of force majeure or as otherwise provided by regulations.”

In other words, Ter Stegen was deregistered by Barcelona on 25 January when he was registered by Girona, and he cannot now be registered again by the Blaugrana.

The only remaining doubt would be whether both clubs could appeal to the injury as a case of force majeure, although injuries are not considered cases of force majeure.

A different scenario would arise if the loan contract included a clause stipulating that, in the event of an injury like the current one that forces a long period of inactivity, the loan would be cancelled and the player would return to Camp Nou.

In that case, Ter Stegen could return and train with the team once recovered, but he would not be able to be registered or play for Barcelona until the end of the season.