Deco Reveals the Reason for Signing Juan Garcia and Discusses Ter Stegen's Departure in January

Deco, the sporting director of Barcelona, revealed the reason for signing young goalkeeper Juan Garcia, and he also discussed the possibility of German goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen leaving in January.

Deco said in a lengthy interview with Mundo Deportivo about signing Juan Garcia: "Sometimes daily management pushes us to decisions we hadn't considered. Two years ago, we weren't thinking about signing a goalkeeper this quickly. But after Marc ter Stegen's first back injury, Iñaki Peña played brilliantly for almost two and a half months, and we started looking at the future of the goalkeeper position."

He added: "We noticed that we had only ter Stegen and Iñaki Peña, and we weren't adequately prepared for the future. We talked about involving Astralaga and Cusin in the B team to gain experience. Then Marc had a knee injury, and we found ourselves in a difficult position, then we signed Szczęsny who was fantastic, and then we started looking at available goalkeepers. We knew Juan from before, and he was proving his capabilities. We wanted to sign him because he serves both the present and the future."

He continued: "I know that leaving Espanyol is not easy, but for him it was a realistic opportunity because Marc got injured again, which gave him the chance to fight for the goalkeeper position. Many clubs were interested in signing Juan Garcia, but playing for Barcelona and competing here are decisive factors.

Regarding the signing of Juan Garcia despite having ter Stegen: "The two matters are not related. Marc is a great goalkeeper and a leader of the team, and we respect his history, and he can still achieve more because he is 33 years old, which is not an advanced age. The issue is not about replacing him, but his injury made us realize that we lack options. We wanted a young goalkeeper who gives us both the present and the future, and that's why Juan was the ideal choice."

As for whether ter Stegen was informed of the club's desire to sign Juan Garcia: "There is no such thing as 'informing a player'; there is no issue between ter Stegen and Juan Garcia. We started looking at the goalkeeper position after Marc's first injury, not in search of a replacement for him. When we looked at the goalkeepers, we found that we only had Iñaki, and the others were too young. We spoke with Alejanko and the head of the goalkeeping coaches and decided that Ander and Diego should play. We didn't have a reliable third goalkeeper, so we looked for an option; it became more complicated with Marc's injury last season. It's a matter of planning to ensure the future, and the coach is the one who decides who plays."

Regarding ter Stegen's departure in January, he said: "No, there is nothing like that in our plans. We are in a goalkeeper crisis and had to call Cusin from Chile despite his importance for the Under-20 World Cup. If Marc were available, he would be playing now, and he remains under contract with us."

He concluded regarding ter Stegen's post that he would be absent for 3 months due to his back injury: "I will not go into these details. Perhaps he said that based on his previous experience with the back injury that kept him out for two and a half or three months. But these are questions that should be directed to him; the player is free to express whatever he wants, and we have no rules preventing him from doing so. It's true that Instagram sometimes complicates things, as players reveal matters that should have remained internal, but they are free."