Barcelona announced Friday that they had reinstated Marc-André ter Stegen as club captain after the goalkeeper agreed to authorise his medical report being sent to LaLiga.
Barcelona said Thursday they had temporarily stripped Ter Stegen of the captaincy after ESPN reported that the Germany international, who recently underwent back surgery, refused to sign a consent form for his medical data to be shared with LaLiga, with Barça considering taking legal action in response.
But the two parties have now resolved the dispute, Barcelona said.
“The Club announces that the player Marc-André ter Stegen has signed the authorisation necessary for the Club to send La Liga the medical report relating to his surgery,” the LaLiga champions said in a statement.
“The disciplinary case has been closed and the player is captain of the first team once again with immediate effect.”
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The announcement came just hours after Ter Stegen released his own statement saying that he was “fully willing to collaborate with the Club’s management to resolve this matter and to provide the requested authorisation.”
Barça could have at least 50% of the player’s salary freed up for registration purposes under LaLiga’s injury provision, a rule that applies if a player is sidelined for at least four months. While Barcelona believe Ter Stegen will be out for at least four months, the goalkeeper said in a statement that he expected to be back in action in just three months.
If Ter Stegen’s recovery time is more than four months, Barça could release him from his contract and register other players such as Marcus Rashford.
“In recent weeks, many things have been said about me – some of them entirely unfounded. Therefore, I feel it is necessary to express my version of events respectfully, yet clearly,” he wrote.
“I would also like to clarify that all of the club’s signings and contract renewals were completed prior to my surgery. Therefore, at no point could I consider that my unfortunate circumstances with the new surgery I had to undergo would be necessary for the registration of other colleagues whom I greatly respect and look forward to share locker room with for many seasons.”
Barça signed Joan García from Espanyol to be their No. 1 goalkeeper and also decided to renew the contract of veteran Wojciech Szczesny.
Ter Stegen’s decision to undergo surgery was a major setback for Barcelona as ESPN had reported that the Catalan club had intended to let him leave the club this summer.
But he insisted that the decision to undergo surgery “was fully approved by the club” and that the three months’ recovery time he announced was “communicated to me by most reputed experts and always in coordination with the club.”
He added: “My commitment to these colors remains absolute.”
Barcelona have yet to register five players with eight days to go before they begin their LaLiga title defence against Mallorca.
Information from ESPN’s Moises Llorens and Adriana Garcia was used in this report.
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