Ajax have reached a verbal agreement with Barcelona to sign goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen on a loan deal for the 2026-27 season.Sources with knowledge of the situation, speaking on the condition of anonymity, say the 34-year-old is keen on the move, which is subject to details being finalised.The Athletic reported on June 30 that Ajax were interested in signing Ter Stegen, who is not in Hansi Flick’s plans. The goalkeeper is earning a significant salary, which includes deferrals from previous seasons, and his contract runs until 2028.Ter Stegen, who captained Barcelona, spent the second half of the 2025-26 campaign on loan at Girona, making just two appearances before a hamstring injury ended his season early. He did not make Julian Nagelsmann’s squad for this summer’s World Cup to add to his 44 caps, after Manuel Neuer came out of retirement.Joan Garcia is Barcelona’s first-choice goalkeeper and Wojciech Szczesny signed a two-year contract extension in July 2025, after he returned to the club to cover for Ter Stegen’s injury in September 2024, two months after announcing his retirement from football.Ter Stegen has suffered repeated injuries in recent years. A “complete rupture in the patella tendon” saw him sidelined for over seven months before he returned to the Barcelona team in May 2025. In the summer that followed, he sustained a back injury which required surgery. For Barca, he only played in the Copa del Rey fixture against C.D. Guadalajara in the 2025-26 season.In August 2025, Ter Stegen was temporarily stripped of his captaincy and the club opened disciplinary proceedings in an escalation of an argument which centred around his back injury.The German said via social media the surgery would keep him out for three months, and he did not sign a medical document which would have allowed Barcelona to take advantage of a rule that would allow the club to register another player in his place. He signed the document a day later and his captaincy was reinstated.The Athletic reported Barca were keen to sell Ter Stegen during the previous summer to make space for other signings, given they were operating above their La Liga-imposed salary limit.Ter Stegen joined Barcelona from Borussia Monchengladbach in July 2014 and has made 423 appearances for the club, succeeding Gerard Pique as captain in October 2022.He has won seven La Liga titles, a Champions League, and the Copa del Rey six times during his 12 years at Camp Nou.Jul 3, 2026Connections: Sports EditionSpot the pattern. Connect the termsFind the hidden link between sports terms