Marc-Andre ter Stegen has agreed a new contract with Barcelona, as reported by Fabrizio Romano.
The goalkeeper’s renewal will run until June 2025 and will be announced soon, with the terms already having been agreed.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen Agrees New Contract Extension
Barcelona’s Number One
The Germany international, formerly of Borussia Monchengladbach, is Barcelona’s number one goalkeeper and has been for some time. Ter Stegen is a reliable option at Camp Nou.
He kept 14 clean sheets in La Liga last season, rising to 17 in all competitions. He shipped 50 goals in 46 appearances, though eight of them did come in the one game against Bayern Munich in the Champions League.
His 14 clean sheets make him the fifth most productive goalkeeper in La Liga for 2019/20, behind Thibaut Courtois, Jan Oblak, David Soria and Tomas Vaclik. He’d probably be expected to be higher up in that regard, however, Barcelona aren’t in the greatest shape, and perhaps his defence could be afforded a lot of the responsibility too.
Barcelona have had a season of change, change that is still happening at the club. Having started the season with Ernesto Valverde in charge, they closed it with Quique Setien. Setien proved no better and was later replaced by Ronald Koeman ahead of this season. Ter Stegen is yet to feature under the Dutch manager, but that is down to a knee injury. He is due to return at the end of the month.
Aside from Lionel Messi, Ter Stegen is probably one of the first names on the teamsheet, so he will probably not be too worried watching Neto cover for him.
This Season so Far and When ter Stegen Will Return
Barcelona have had a positive start to life under Koeman. They started the La Liga campaign with a 4-0 win over Villarreal, following that up with 3-0 win at Celta Vigo‘s Estadio de Balaidos. Though, priding themselves on wins as they do, they will be disappointed with a 1-1 draw with Sevilla. They sit fifth in the La Liga table at the moment, just three points behind Real Madrid (first), with a game in hand.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen looks set to remain absent in the next four games at least. Barcelona face Getafe next, before a Champions League opener with Hungarian side Ferencvaros. That game is followed by El Clasico and then a trip to Juventus‘ Allianz Stadium. The stakes couldn’t be higher at this stage of the season. The 28-year-old goalkeeper will be looking to recover as quickly as possible.
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