Barça goalkeeper Ter Stegen: The German becoming a Catalan

It's said that what doesn't kill you, makes you stronger. Marc-Andre ter Stegen was close to leaving Barcelona in 2016 but now his relationship with the city has intensified. In an interview with ESPN, the goalkeeper explained his love for the Catalan capital and how his life in the city centre has changed him.  

"It’s good that the people are happy seeing me on an electric scooter. I’m living now in the city centre and I am really enjoying the time. I always try to get different perspectives, also getting to know the mentality. I think since living here I improved a lot getting to know the people, how they are, what they expect. Also every culture is different, so you need to adapt. I think step by step I am coming closer and I see that something’s already changed. I mean I am German, but now sometimes it’s getting closer and closer to be a Catalan. It’s funny how things are changing," ter Stegen said.  

With the Catalan language, though, the stopper still has work to do: "I don't speak it, just for fun sometimes. People are always laughing when I speak Catalan. But I think they are happy sometimes because I can really identify with the mentality and the culture and I really love the city. This is what I also want to show the people, that even if I am German, that I want to adapt and if I can, as far as I can, I want to speak the language, of course. For me, it’s also funny when I speak it, I know it’s not perfect, not at all, but I think my mistakes are funny and I am happy when they like it." 

He added: "Sometimes they speak to me even in interviews in Catalan and even if I respond in Spanish it’s fine for them. But it’s already a step, that they know that if they explain easily in Catalan I will understand them…"

Ter Stegen also spoke about the moment when his future could have gone in another direction, at the end of his second season with Barça. "It’s not just about me as a person, not as a football player. It’s also about family, it’s about my wife, and my wife is studying here in Barcelona," he commented.  

"She’s very happy and of course the first option for me was to stay here if all the circumstances would be fine and I would play. Of course, that would be the first choice. But when you’re not happy, and at this time I wasn’t really happy sometimes, you’re searching for another way, for an exit maybe, for another idea. 

"I’m really happy [with what] the club did and [with] how my wife managed the situation. It [wasn’t] an easy situation. When you start to study here and then it’s about to change a lot, or it might be (…) it’s not really comfortable. It’s not what I say as a footballer, [but] as a private person, a normal guy who wants the best for her, and I am very happy for her.”