Barcelona captain cuts his vacation short and returns to club facilities

Barcelona will fly out to the USA for their pre-season friendlies later this week with a squad that will be lacking several first-team regulars either due to injuries or late returns from international commitments.

Ronald Araujo, Pedri, Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, Pau Cubarsi, and Fermin Lopez are a few of the names who will not be travelling to the USA where Barça will play three matches against Manchester City, Real Madrid, and AC Milan.

Ter Stegen returns

Ahead of the trip to the USA, Barcelona have been handed a surprise through an early return as Marc-Andre ter Stegen has cut short his vacation to show up at the club’s training facilities today, reports SPORT.

Ter Stegen was part of the Germany squad that made it as far as the quarterfinals of the UEFA Euro 2024, although he did not play a single minute in the tournament.

Raring to go. (Photo by Fran Santiago/Getty Images)

The goalkeeper, who is now primed to be the first captain at Barcelona with Sergi Roberto’s contract not being renewed, was expected to return later this week, just in time before the squad departed to the US.

But, the German shot-stopper arrived at the Ciutat Esportiva today to begin preparations for next season as soon as possible.

After a two-week holiday, Ter Stegen once again demonstrated his commitment to the club by joining Hansi Flick’s dynamic while he still had days off.

The goalkeeper is very excited about the upcoming season with Barça and is ‘extra motivated’ as he aims to dislodge Manuel Neuer and take the No. 1 spot with the German national team before the FIFA World Cup in 2026.

While Ter Stegen may have returned earlier than expected, it will be interesting to see whether Flick thrusts him into action right away in the friendlies or opts to give others like Inaki Pena and Diego Kochen a chance.