According to football insider Fabrizio Romano, Barcelona and Marc André ter Stegen are close to agreeing on a new contract that will see the German sign on until the summer of 2028. Not only is it good news based on Barca maintaining a team captain and outstanding player, but it also brings much-needed salary cap relief, which should enable Barca to sign and register new players.
It’s believed that Ter Stegen will defer a lot of his salary into the later part of his contract, but will be paid in full. Barcelona is currently experiencing financial difficulties due to the decisions made by previous presidents and while there is a clear path to financial stability, it requires the understanding and action of management and players.
Ter Stegen is willing to defer a lot of his salary from the 2023/24 and 2024/25 seasons into the last three years of his contract, a period where Barca will get some major players off the books, players who aren’t even here anymore. It was recently revealed that Barcelona will be making outstanding payments to club legend Messi until 2025.
MATS has made over 250 appearances for Barcelona and was recently named a team captain alongside Sergi Roberto, Ronald Araujo and Frenkie de Jong. This is certainly the actions of a captain and showcases why he was selected by his peers.
Barcelona still have several players not registered with La Liga such as Inigo Martinez, Marcos Alonso and Iñaki Peña.
They’re also close to signing Manchester City defender Joao Cancelo on loan, and thus he’ll need to be registered as well.
Once that signing has been completed, it’s expected that Barca will turn their attention to another midfielder, and while Bernardo Silva is no longer an option, there is talk that Tottenham’s Giovani Lo Celso is a target of Xavi’s.
