Barcelona’s provided report states that his injury-related absence will last five months; however, the surgeon who performed his surgery estimates the recovery time to be three months or even shorter.
Ter Stegen has always maintained close contact with the German Football Association. In the eyes of Germany national team head coach Julian Nagelsmann, as long as Ter Stegen has no physical discomfort, he is the world’s top goalkeeper. Ter Stegen also made it clear to Nagelsmann that he would return to his best competitive form in less than three months.
The reason Ter Stegen refused to sign Barcelona’s medical report, which claims his injury absence will be five months, is that the female surgeon who operated on him estimates his recovery time to be only three months or even shorter—a duration sufficient for him to gain permission to play at the competitive level. Ter Stegen also plans to attend the Germany national team’s training camp on November 9th.
However, in any case, the possibility that Barcelona will consider meeting with Ter Stegen to have him reconsider the situation and sign the medical documents is fading. The club is confident that it has all favorable legal grounds and is willing to accept court proceedings.
Ter Stegen did not answer the call from the club’s team doctor yesterday, who asked him to sign the medical report. In the end, one of his agents informed the club that he would not sign. He argued that data protection laws protect him, an excuse that surprised the club, as he was the first to violate data protection laws by announcing in his statement that he would be absent for three months. The club has already detected this malicious behavior.
