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By Andreas Vou (@AndreasVou89)

​Marc-Andre ter Stegen is the man under the sticks for FC Barcelona’s final two league games, but it must become a voluntary decision rather than an enforced one as of next season.

The German has had a stop-start career so far in Catalonia. The 24-year-old keeper agreed to sign for the club as the 2013/14 season drew to a close shortly after the long-serving Victor Valdes announced his decision to leave his boyhood team after over 12 years in the first team.

Despite his youth, Ter Stegen looked the perfect fit to take over the role on a permanent basis with his rapid reflexes and wonderful distribution of the ball, ideal for the way FC Barcelona liked to play.

However, the incoming manager had other ideas. When drawing up a list of potential new signings to improve the team, Luis Enrique surprised Barça officials when he asked for another goalkeeper. Although Ter Stegen had only just been signed, the former Celta Vigo boss wanted a keeper who knew La Liga well, and so the experienced Claudio Bravo was brought in from Real Sociedad.

Without hesitation, Luis Enrique made Bravo his first choice for league matches and has not changed for the last two years, and although Ter Stegen is selected for cup matches home and abroad, the situation has cast a big grey cloud over the future of the German.

The situation today leaves Ter Stegen frustrated at the lack of regular first team football, and has never made secret his discontent at not being involved in league proceedings.

With the off-season approaching, rumors are typically flying around about interest from other clubs and, whenever questioned on the matter, the player himself has never hidden his frustration at lack of first team football, further fuelling the speculation.

While it is fair to assume that he is being advised by his management team to make such comments in order to provoke a response from the club, it must make Luis Enrique and the men upstairs seriously consider their options.

The situation is simple: Barça can continue playing Bravo in the league who perhaps has another two good seasons in him, and then be forced to lash out a hefty sum on a top goalkeeper in the not too distant future.

The other option is to take the gutsy decision of sacrificing Bravo this summer and assuring Ter Stegen, who has all the qualities to become one of the best in the world for years to come, that he is the number one choice.

In his opportunities so far, despite a few errors, Ter Stegen has shown he has the hallmarks of a world-class goalkeeper but, more importantly, a world-class Barcelona goalkeeper due to his composure on the ball and expert passing range to add to his positional and shot-stopping skills.

There have been all too many occasions in the past when they have neglected lingering cases similar to this one and have ended up paying a heavy price. Failure to give assurances to Thiago Alcantara saw the club lose a natural replacement for Xavi who could have gone on to dominate the central midfield position has been the most damning example, and they are at risk of doing something similar with Ter Stegen.

It would be a ruthless decision, as Bravo has not done much wrong since his move, but Barça must take it if they want to keep a goalkeeper who can become one of the best in the business for years to come.