After several media outlets reported that Ter Stegen will be out for up to eight months with a knee injury, the Barcelona board are now thinking about what they need to do to cover the German goalkeeper’s absence.
Ter Stegen’s serious injury has already put the ‘Cules’ board to work. The first decision to be taken is whether to put their faith in Inaki Pena as a replacement. For the moment, it is clear that he will be the one chosen, as he did last season, when the German underwent an operation due to muscular problems.
Back then, he played a total of 17 games and conceded 32 goals, an average of 1.88 goals per game. Despite some good performances, he did not seem to be a real solution to the problem.
If the Catalan side decide to sign a new goalkeeper now, they can only do so with players who are currently without a team. In addition, the Squad Cost Limits (salary cap), of which he is in excess, will not be a problem. Barcelona can make use of La Liga’s new rule regarding long-term injuries.
“The Inscribable Squad Cost Limit or the inscription capacity may be exceeded in one season and whose inscription is requested within 30 calendar days from the date of the player’s injury… and that as a consequence of the injury a disability of a duration equal to or greater than four months is foreseen from its occurrence’. He could use 80% of the cost of the German to register a goalkeeper without a team until 31st December.
The last option and the least viable, given the situation of the Catalan club, is to wait until the winter transfer window opens in January. At the moment, everything is hypothetical and there are many unknowns and few certainties.
