Barcelona are preparing for chaos before a ball is kicked on their La Liga title defence in the 2025/26 season.
Hansi Flick led the Catalan giants to a domestic treble in his debut campaign but his summer plans have been thrown into disarray.
After securing the arrivals of Joan Garcia and Marcus Rashford - with the latter joining on a season-long loan from Manchester United - the club are currently unable to register them as La Liga players.
The focus of the saga centres on Marc-Andre ter Stegen's latest injury setback with the Germany international effectively triggering a club civil war.
Ter Stegen underwent back surgery in July - amid swirling rumours of the club looking to sell him following the arrival of Garcia - and his recovery period has sparked a row.
The veteran No.1 initially stated he would only be sidelined for three months, which would not enable Barcelona to activate the La Liga rule over using injured players 'salary space' to register new stars.
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In the latest chapter, Barcelona have confirmed their decision to strip Ter Stegen of the club captaincy, with vice-captain Ronal Araujo taking over amid disciplinary proceeding opening against the former.
Why have Barcelona removed Ter Stegen as captain?
The process of internal action against Ter Stegen comes after he indicated to the club his unwillingness to give consent to send his medical report to La Liga.
Barcelona have flagged Ter Stegen's recovery period as four to five months, in theory allowing them to use 50% of his salary space to register a replacement, but that has been blocked by the player.
MORE: Flick confident Rashford can challenge for Barca starting spot
La Liga require Ter Stegen’s medical report to evaluate the extent of his injury and approve the activation of the injury rule, but that hinges on player consent, as Barcelona look to escalate the matter.
As per Marca, if a resolution is not reached before Barcelona's first La Liga game of the season, they could be without eight first-team players for the trip to Mallorca on August 16.
Garcia and Rashford are the standout names on the list alongside fellow summer signing Roony Bardghji.
However, Wojciech Szczesny and Gerard Martin have not been registered after signing contract extensions, and Gerard Martin need to be re-admitted after missing the majority of last season through injury.
Hector Fort and Oriol Romeu complete the list, but they are tipped to leave the club before the end of August, which would also free up space.
Without a change of stance from Ter Stegen, Rashford's La Liga bow could be delayed, in a situation Barcelona had hoped to avoid a repeat of following the Dani Olmo debacle of 2024/25.
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