FC Barcelona continued their winning run in La Liga last night, but, as Joan Laporta commented, it was ‘a sad victory’ for the Catalans. The Blaugranes saw their starting goalkeeper, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, stretchered off the pitch with a seemingly serious injury as he landed awkwardly while attempting to catch a high ball.
Despite the recent criticism that the German shot-stopper has faced, there is no doubt that Barcelona will miss him between the sticks. In the most pessimistic scenario, the German goalkeeper can miss up to seven to eight months with this issue.
Meanwhile, Mundo Deportivo notes that Barcelona will have some options to mitigate the impact of this injury on their team. The Catalans can find some relief in FIFA’s Regulations on the Transfer Status of Players, which has two exceptions allowing the registration of players outside of the regular registration periods.
One of these exceptions will allow Barcelona to sign an unregistered or unemployed player, i.e., one who has unilaterally terminated his contract with a justified cause or one whose contract has been terminated by his club without a justified cause. Any player left without a team in the last transfer window can also be signed by Barcelona in these circumstances.
Furthermore, with his long-term injury, the Blaugranes can once again use Article 77 of La Liga Regulations, which they have already used with Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen this season, and used with Gavi last season.
In the current scenario, Barcelona can use 80% of Ter Stegen’s salary to register another goalkeeper who is without a team. This will be a temporary registration till 1st January, as is the case with Olmo, and Ter Stegen will also remain registered with the team.
Lastly, the Blaugranes can also cancel Ter Stegen’s registration in January, and add another player in his place in their 25-man squad.
