Marc-Andre ter Stegen is not for sale. Barcelona are not thinking of letting the German goalkeeper go and he will only leave if another club pays his release clause, which is 80 million euros. Barça consider Ter Stegen the goalkeeper of the future and are not ready to enter into any negotiations, although they have not yet received any formal offers.

Lluis Mascaro

In recent hours, speculation has grown over Ter Stegen’s future. In the British press they have spoken of interest from teams such as Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City, Manchester United (if David de Gea goes to Real Madrid) and Liverpool. Barça know there is interest from these clubs, but they’re not interested in negotiating. “Ter Stegen is not for sale” assure sources at the Catalan club.

They are clear that Ter Stegen is the goalkeeper for the next decade. But they are also clear that, for the moment, he has to share his duties with Claudio Bravo. It’s a duel which has worked perfectly well for the last two seasons. His moment will arrive, sooner than later, and he will be Barça’s No.1. That’s indisputable.

However, the club do have a basic concept: “Only people who want to be here are here.” That’s to say, if Ter Stegen does not want to continue at Barcelona, someone can come in with the release clause (80 million euros) and he can go. But Barça believe Ter Stegen wants to continue at the club. He feels comfortable in the city (his girlfriend is studying architecture at the university) and his Spanish is very good already…

Ter Stegen’s desire to play more is understood inside the club. It’s normal he feels that way. Although, some of his recent comments do seem a little similar to blackmail. It’s not a blackmail trap Barcelona will fall into, though.