An FC Barcelona locker room heavyweight has agreed to head to the Saudi Pro League when his contract expires, according to local reports picked up by SPORT which cited anonymous sources.
Marc-Andre ter Stegen has been linked with a move to the Middle East amid the signing of Joan Garcia.
On international duty with Germany, he claimed ignorance as per being potentially sold ahead of the 2025/2026 season, at a time when Garcia’s release clause at Espanyol still hadn’t been paid.
Now that’s been done, and Garcia has been announced and unveiled at the Joan Gamper CT, the veteran’s days between the sticks as Hansi Flick’s number one are believed to be numbered.
With a contract until mid-2028, however, Ter Stegen isn’t obliged to go anywhere and can make things difficult for President Joan Laporta and Sporting Director Deco to get him out of the door.
Robert Lewandowski’s pending exit from the Catalans should be far more amicable. Turning 37 in exactly a couple of months’ time, the deal he signed when joining from Bayern Munich in 2022 expires in just over a year and isn’t expected to be renewed given his age.
Already looking at the big picture, though, Saudi outlets such as the Al-Riyadiyah newspaper report that ‘Lewa’ will become one of the Pro League’s marquee signings in 2026, which has been confirmed by an anonymous Gol International spokesperson.
Gol International is of course the agency headed by Lewandowski’s super agent Pini Zahavi, with whom Laporta shares a great working relationship that helped bring the Pole to the Camp Nou back in the famous summer of the “economic levers”.
The mentioned newspaper is clear that there have been no direct conversations between Lewandowski and Pro League representatives yet, but they are expected soon ahead of the ex-Pichichi winner joining one of its teams in 2026.
Robert Lewandowski will leave FC Barcelona a modern day club legend
Irrespective of where his next destination is, Lewandowski will leave FC Barcelona as a modern day club legend. With two La Liga titles, two Spanish Super Cups and a Copa del Rey to his name amid 101 goals, he could add the Champions League crown to that tally if Flick and his men go all the way to Budapest and then some next term.
