The Germany international triggered a civil war at the Camp Nou at the start of the 2025/26 campaign following his furious reaction to the club signing Joan Garcia from Espanyol as his replacement.
The row was eventually resolved, and Ter Stegen’s freed up ‘salary space’ was repurposed to prove Barca could cover Garcia’s wages, as part of a delicate financial balancing act which kept him as captain of the club.
After not featuring in a league game following his return from injury at the end of 2026, Barcelona sanctioned a January loan to Girona, which was also wrecked by injury within weeks of joining their Catalan neighbours.
He is now back at Barcelona and involved in preseason training, with Hansi Flick putting on double sessions to get his squad ready for the 2026/27 season, minus his Spanish contingent still on a post World Cup holiday.
The club are working hard to tie up a season-long loan for him at Ajax as part of a reunion with former Girona boss Michel.
If a deal is not wrapped up in the coming days, he will travel with the squad for the first part of their summer tour in the UK, before heading to Amsterdam in August.