Barcelona not providing Marc-Andre ter Stegen recovery period as goalkeeper sets ambitious return goal
After his knee injury that returned to his stomach on Sunday night, Marc-André ter Stegen he underwent surgery on his patellar tendon in his knee less than 24 hours after the injury. The German is already on the road to recovery.
While in the past it was common practice for Barcelona not to publicly set recovery periods for injuries, this season both Fermin Lopez and Dani Olmo have been given return dates by the club. After confirming that Ter Stegen had successfully undergone surgery on Monday afternoon, Barcelona did not give a return date.
❗ (MEDICAL NEWS)
First team player Marc Andre ter Stegen underwent successful surgery this afternoon on a patellar tendon injury in his right knee, performed by Dr. Joan Carles Monllau under the supervision of FC Barcelona Medical Services at the Barcelona Hospital. He… pic.twitter.com/fOAn3xeSoC
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) September 23, 2024
That follows from a report in Sport which ter Stegen has set a goal to recover before the end of the season. While the usual eight-month recovery period would almost rule him out for the rest of the campaign, the Catalan daily explains that the recovery can vary between six and nine months.
If he returned after seven and a half months, then he would return for the last five games of the League, including the Clasico, and the semi-final of the Champions League was Barcelona to do. A perfect example being Thibaut Courtois, who returned in mid-April last year after tearing his anterior cruciate ligament, and then damaging the meniscus, but was present for the semi-finals of the Champions League. He ended up lifting the trophy.
Antonio Adán, another option to cover Ter Stegen's absence. @tjuanmarti
— Barcacentre (@barcacentre) September 23, 2024
Barcelona have already decided to sign him a replacement of their captain, and it is likely to be a move that they make imminently. They can use 80% of their salary to do it, which is estimated at around 7 million euros. Several names have been floated, including the likes of Keylor Navas, Claudio Bravo and even Wojciech Szczesny.
