Barcelona goalkeeper and captain Marc-Andre ter Stegen suffered a serious right knee injury during the Blaugrana’s 5-1 win over Villarreal in LaLiga on Sunday, and he is expected to miss seven to nine months
More testing will be carried out to determine the extent of the injury, but, at this juncture, it appears Barcelona will have to assume that the 32-year-old’s season is over.
Barcelona brought in 25-year-old goalkeeper Inaki Pena off the bench, and he will be the starter at least up until the January transfer window, during which Barca could sign another goalkeeper to replace ter Stegen for the remainder of the 2024/25 campaign.
According to a report from Diario Sport, Las Palmas starter Alvaro Valles could be a potential option to replace Marc-Andre ter Stegen in the January 2025 transfer window.
Valles was one of the big breakout stars in the 2023/24 LaLiga season for newly promoted Las Palmas, as his jaw-dropping saves quickly earned him a reputation as one of the top keepers in Spain.
Even Unai Emery, Monchi, and Aston Villa were strongly considering signing Valles last summer after he posted a save percentage above 78. This season, Valles is saving nearly 75 percent of his shots.
Since ter Stegen received a great deal of criticism for a poor performance against Monaco in the Champions League and has been struggling since his great 2022/23 season, many Culers would like Barca to replace the aging goalkeeper anyway.
Valles is no prospect at the age of 27, but he could still be both a short and long-term upgrade over ter Stegen, given he’s been better than the German international since the start of the 2023/24 season.
There will be other options for Barcelona to weigh, and, hey, if Pena plays very well, Barca may not even need to consider signing a goalkeeper this January. But Valles is a good option to have on the list.
The managing editor of The Trivela Effect, Kevin has 15 years of experience in digital media. He covered Real Madrid from 2019-2022 for The Real Champs as a site manager. His work has been featured in ESPN, Bleacher Report, Yahoo! Sports, NBC Sports, and other major outlets. You can contact him at the site’s official Twitter handle @TrivelaEffect or via the site’s official email thetrivelaeffect@gmail.com.
