The entire Barcelona dressing room stands firmly behind Marc-André ter Stegen to continue as the team’s captain, with players refusing to betray their teammate at the club’s behest.
Originally, Barcelona’s new captaincy vote was scheduled to take place this week, and manager Hansi Flick had promised to finalize the captaincy election before the start of the new La Liga season. In fact, according to Barcelona’s tradition, the new captain should be confirmed before the Gamper Trophy match, and the player wearing the captain’s armband during the Gamper Trophy would, as customary, address the public at the venue. However, due to the controversy sparked by Ter Stegen’s publicly disclosed injury absence period, the club is reluctant to let him continue as captain, leaving the club in a rather tricky situation.
The Barcelona dressing room has collectively expressed opposition. Players believe that the conflict between goalkeeper Ter Stegen and the club remains solely on a sporting level and has nothing to do with them as teammates, with everyone hoping this storm will subside soon. If it were up to the players, Ter Stegen would remain captain.
In recent days, several Barcelona players have publicly stated their stance, emphasizing that Ter Stegen is still rightfully the team’s captain. Some players even contacted Ter Stegen directly during the team’s US tour, making it clear that they will not back down on the captaincy issue unless the club takes an unprecedented step—canceling the captaincy vote. Players are well aware that such a conflict could befall anyone in the future, so they are unwilling to see such a dangerous precedent set.
According to Barcelona’s long-standing tradition, the dressing room typically selects captains based on players’ seniority. But this time, the club hopes to break this rule, wanting manager Flick to nominate a player with great prestige in the dressing room to take on the captaincy role.
While Barcelona does have the authority to revise the captaincy election rules, the players are firmly refusing to compromise. If the club initiates disciplinary proceedings, it will undoubtedly seek to remove Ter Stegen from the list of captaincy candidates.
