Tuesday, 5th November, 2013
Marc-Andre ter Stegen's future may well be in limbo with Barcelona torn between him and Thibaut Courtois – and with Borussia Monchengladbach eyeing up a replacement.
Ter Stegen is still the leading contender to replace Victor Valdes next summer, after Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta revealed last week he had held talks with the goalkeeper's family and agent.
However, Courtois, who is on loan from Chelsea at Atletico Madrid, knows the Spanish game better and, according to Marca, Barcelona president Sandro Rosell prefers the Belgian.
Amid all this, Gladbach, despite previous statements backing Ter Stegen to renew, are keeping their options open with Fortuna Dusseldorf man Fabian Giefer reportedly in their sights.
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Giefer's agent Tobias Sander was quoted by Bild as saying: "It is true that there have been requests, even from the Bundesliga. But we will not negotiate with other clubs before January."
What could work in Ter Stegen's favour is the asking price Gladbach have, in the region of €10m, as opposed to what a Roman Abramovich-backed Chelsea would expect for Courtois.
Courtois is unwilling to return to Chelsea only to be an understudy to Petr Cech and it is likely he will continue his career in Spain, regardless of who secures his services.
Ter Stegen himself has not ruled out a renewal with Gladbach – his contract runs out in 2015 – and yesterday his manager and sporting director both expressed their own hopes.
Sporting director Max Eberl, in particular, said: "We are continuing conversations about a contract renewal. My feelings on it are good. I think he'll stay at Borussia much longer than people think."
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