Marc-André ter Stegen‘s World Cup hopes have suffered a major setback with a hamstring injury set to rule him out for a significant period of time, sources have confirmed to ESPN.
Sources say Ter Stegen, on loan at Girona from Barcelona, is pending the final results of tests on the problem, with the two clubs in talks over the best course of action.
With surgery not ruled out, and the possibility of more than two months on the sidelines, one option is that he returns to Barça less than two weeks after signing for Girona in search of regular football to secure his place in Germany‘s World Cup squad.
“I just heard the news,” Barça coach Hansi Flick said in a news conference on Monday when asked if Ter Stegen would have to return to the LaLiga leaders.
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“I didn’t speak with him, but I am very sorry for him. But we have to wait for the results and see what happens.”
Ter Stegen, 33, has suffered a string of serious injuries since Flick became Barça coach in 2024, which resulted in him losing his place in the team to Joan García.
A knee injury limited him to just nine appearances in all competitions last season, while he missed the first four months of the current campaign after undergoing back surgery.
He returned in the Copa del Rey against Guadalajara in December, going on to join Girona last month, starting their last two games against Getafe and Real Oviedo.
The German international, who has made over 400 appearance for Barça since signing in 2014, now faces an anxious wait to see what this latest injury will mean for his World Cup hopes.
Meanwhile, Barça have also announced that Raphinha will be sidelined for a week with a thigh strain, ruling him out of Tuesday’s Copa del Rey quarterfinal against Albacete and potentially Saturday’s league match at home to Mallorca.
The Brazilian missed nine games earlier this season through injury and was also absent for the defeat to Real Sociedad last month as Barça attempted to manage his minutes.
“I am not happy with this,” Flick added of Raphinha’s latest knock. “He is a very important player. We have to see what we have to change and also what he has to change.
“We speak about that in the next days. It’s important. Now is the important phase of the season and we need every player to be able to play and when he’s out, it’s not good.”
The fixtures come thick and fast for Barça now, starting with Tuesday’s trip to second division side Albacete, who stunned Real Madrid and Celta Vigo in the previous rounds to reach the last eight of the Copa.
“This is why we all love these competitions because of unexpected results,” Flick said when asked if the Madrid result would serve as a warning. “Albacete have nothing to lose, only to win.
“The two past matches are important to see what they did good or what the opponents did not so good, Real and Celta. We have to adapt this. It’s about the mentality and attitude tomorrow, how we come into the game.”
