Marc-Andre ter Stegen has not spoken with Barcelona, unfazed by captaincy pressure | OneFootball

Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen has no intention  of changing his stance on his dispute with the club. On Thursday afternoon, the club announced that they were removing the captaincy from ter Stegen until their disciplinary proceedings against him were resolved.

The 33-year-old was not expected at the club’s training facilities on Thursday, but spent an hour and a half doing some recovery work, as he rehabilitates his back following surgery last week. The club did not speak with him during that time, and did not communicate their decision to him, as per Gerard Romero. It was also noted that the squad did not vote on new captains for the upcoming season.

Ter Stegen will not cede to Barcelona pressure

The dispute surrounds ter Stegen’s decision not to give consent to Barcelona to share his medical report with La Liga, and by proxy, prevent them from activating the injury rule to help them with player registrations. Barcelona are once again struggling in that regard, but were ter Stegen to sign off on the document, they would be able to use at least 50% of his salary limit space to help register Joan Garcia – his replacement.

Image via Getty Images

Ter Stegen has no intention of altering his stance say Marca, whether that be regarding his medical report, or potentially leaving the club this summer. They also note that ter Stegen, until Barcelona’s announcement had not received notice of the disciplinary proceedings, which some suspect is a means of pressuring ter Stegen.

Ter Stegen unfazed by captaincy decision

Equally, ter Stegen is paying little notice to the decision to remove the captaincy. The 33-year-old feels that his role in the dressing room will not be altered by the decision, and that he still has the support of his colleagues. It is a dressing room containing several players that have been pressured by the club in recent years to leave, including Frenkie de Jong and Raphinha.

Last week as many as six Barcelona players came out in support of ter Stegen as captain. His intention is to fight for his place when he recovers, despite reportedly being told that he will be third choice behind Wojciech Szczesny and Garcia.