Germany international Marc-Andre ter Stegen has been stripped of the captaincy at Barcelona following disciplinary proceedings against him, the Catalan club announced on Thursday.
The 33-year-old is currently sidelined for three months, having undergone back surgery in July. He missed the majority of the 2024-25 campaign due to a right knee injury and made only nine appearances for Barcelona last term, including playing in two of their final five games in La Liga.
Earlier in the week, Barcelona opened legal proceedings against ter Stegen after the goalkeeper failed to grant the Spanish champions his consent, allowing them to submit an injury report to La Liga.
His unwillingness to do so has hindered the Blaugrana from registering new players ahead of the new campaign, forcing the club to task their legal team to weigh up sanctions for ter Stegen.
La Liga’s injury rule allows a team to register a replacement depending on the length of his absence. Clubs can use 50% of their salary limit space during the transfer window to register another player, and it could go as high as 80% if the absence is for more than five months.
However, with ter Stegen failing to provide the club with his consent, Barcelona cannot share his medical data with La Liga. This hinders them from registering any of their new signings, following the arrivals of Marcus Rashford, Roony Bardghji and goalkeeper Joan Garcia.
“Following the disciplinary proceedings opened against player Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and until this matter is definitively resolved, the club, by mutual agreement with the sporting direction and the coaching staff, has decided to temporarily withdraw his role as first-team captain,” a statement from Barcelona read.
Meanwhile, the Catalan club revealed that current vice-captain Ronald Araujo will assume “the duties of first captain” during this period.
Ter Stegen moved to Camp Nou in May 2014 from Borussia Monchengladbach and has appeared in over 400 games for Barcelona, winning 17 trophies, including six La Liga titles and one Champions League.
