Barcelona: Being a goalkeeper for a team includes huge responsibility to avoid conceding goals and make sure that his side wins by a goal difference. Holding the opponent striker’s shots at Bay is one of the main tasks that a goalie has to commit to if his team is playing at a stalemate. Barcelona is lucky to have a player like Marc Andre Ter Stegen between the posts. He is considered one of the finest in his position and has saved Barcelona quite many times for the past few seasons.
Ter Stegen: Barcelona’s last man standing
Barca’s last man standing was reliable enough to dodge vicious attacks and long-range shots aimed at the goal. Ter Stegen is very capable but sits out from his nation with Manuel Neuer still in business. Many pundits have vouched for the Barca goalkeeper to step into Neuer’s boots but the Bayern Munich player is not willing to leave his spot empty at the moment. Nevertheless, signing the German goalkeeper for Barcelona is one of the good tasks that club President Bartomeu did during his tenure.
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He initially signed two players to replace Victor Valdes, namely Claudio Bravo and Ter Stegen. The Chilean International was a direct replacement to the departing Spaniard and club legend and Marc was the 2nd keeper then. Bravo did a good job but eventually, Manchester City came calling and Ter Stegen finally got his chance to break into the first-team. Since then, the German has outgrown himself with his splendid saves and clean sheets for Barcelona.
Stalled contract negotiation may cost Barcelona
However, there is a situation regarding his contract negotiation as Ter Stegen demands to become the second-highest earner even after taking a pay cut as per Goal. Barca has offered him a contract which extends his stay at the club up to 2025 but the wages are lower than the player is expecting. Ter Stegen’s current contract expires in 2022 and so Barcelona can recruit a second keeper who can fill in his position in case the German decides to leave at the end of his tenure.
Atletico Bilbao’s Unai Simon is a favorable option with his consistent performances in La Liga as he replaced Kepa Arrazibalaga and made the second keeper Alex Remiro to switch clubs due to lack of enough game-time. Remiro is also a potential candidate as he has played well with Real Sociedad. However, Barcelona may look to snap up Andre Onana who has experience in European football with Ajax to replace Ter Stegen if the contract talks do not materialize.
