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Manchester City want to sign Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen as per reports. The Premier League side are looking to offer the German an escape route from Catalonia, where he has fallen down the pecking order.
According to AS via Tribal Football, Pep Guardiola is interested in signing Ter Stegen this summer after identifying him as the replacement for Ederson. It is believed that Ter Stegen is not keen on leaving Barcelona. However, the interest from Manchester City still seems concrete.
The Blaugrana have signed Joan Garcia from rivals Espanyol and have also extended the contract of Wojciech Szczęsny until 2027.
The report highlighting City's interest comes just days after Lothar Matthäus urged Ter Stegen to leave and play regularly this season to make it to Germany's FIFA World Cup squad next summer. He told BILD (via BarcaTimes):
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"In my opinion, Ter Stegen will not play for Barcelona again. He needs to play to achieve his dream of participating in the World Cup; if he wants to play in the World Cup, he should leave. I understand [Ter Stegen] — he performed well, was a team captain, and has his life in Barcelona, but he must accept his fate now. Barça has other ideas and different plans. These are decisions that must be accepted, there's no need to complain as this is part of football. There is nothing and nobody bigger than the club."
Notably, Manchester City's Ederson has been linked with a move to the Saudi Pro League. Stefan Ortega has also cast doubt over his future at Etihad when asked earlier this summer.
Pep Guardiola tried to bring the Barcelona star to Manchester City in 2016
Pep Guardiola wanted to sign Marc-Andre ter Stegen in 2016 when he was joining Manchester City. The manager met the goalkeeper in Barcelona, and the German spoke about the approach on BILD's Phrasenmaher podcast (via GOAL):
"We met here in Barcelona. It was crazy: I had to pick up someone else at the airport in the morning, but Pep came out too, with his cap on. I saw him and didn't know what to do. We met that evening at a friend's apartment. The plan sounded very good; I could have seen myself there. Pep wanted to make everything possible, and the club was very committed to me."
"When he said we'd wait for the preseason—after two years—I almost got angry. I then spoke to the board. They also said: 'We're not letting you go under any circumstances.' The release clause at the time was €80 million. Three weeks later, Claudio Bravo was at Man City. That was kind of strange. In the end, the transfer didn't happen, and I'm very happy about that."
Ter Stegen missed the majority of the 2024/25 season after suffering an ACL injury. Szczesny was signed as an emergency replacement, and the goalkeeper kept his spot in the starting line-up even after the German returned towards the end of the season.
