Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen could reportedly face having to undergo surgery after the Champions League concludes after experiencing pain in his knee again.
Although their domestic season ended in disappointment, the 28-year-old was a pivotal figure for the Catalan giants as he made 44 appearances, conceding 41 goals while keeping 17 clean sheets.
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His ability to regularly make decisive saves was a big part of their pursuit of success, and he’ll hope to play a big role in their Champions League campaign when it resumes next month as they face a finely poised second leg with Napoli in their round-of-16 tie.
However, there is concern for Barcelona with AS noting that the German shot-stopper is experiencing discomfort in his knee again, and so now a decision will be needed when their Champions League run is over as to whether or not he should undergo a procedure to sort out the issue as this is not the first time he’s had the problem.
That said, it’s added that given the recovery time could be around three to four months and so Ter Stegen would be out of action until December, there is some apprehension over going under the knife but it could be the best solution for long-term results.
Time will tell what decision is made, but ultimately Ter Stegen will firstly hope to play a crucial role in Barcelona’s Champions League run as they try to keep their hopes of silverware alive, but there will be a big decision made next month over what the most appropriate and most suitable course of action is to ensure he can overcome his injury issue in the best way possible.
While it will be a blow to lose him for any amount of time to start next season given his importance to the side, there is arguably always the threat of the pain coming back and bothering him again unless surgery is carried out to fix the issue properly.