Marc-André ter Stegen is absolutely loving his first few weeks as an FC Barcelona player. “It’s all perfect, much better than I expected” he told fcbarcelona.com in Birmingham. “What Barça do for us is incredible. It’s all perfectly organised, much more professional than at Mönchengladbach, and I just hope we have a good season.”My Spanish is getting better every day and the faster I can learn the betterThe language barrier has caused some difficulties, but the FCB stopper claims that “my team-mates have been very welcoming, they’re supporting me. And we all get on well off the pitch, and that’s also important.” He’s also enjoying this week’s trip to the UK, where “the facilities are perfect and being here has been a great chance for us to talk and laugh together”.
Asked about how his Spanish is coming on, the German said “I’m getting better every day and the faster I can learn the better. Whenever I have any major doubts, Ivan Rakitic can give me a hand.” The Croatian international grew up speaking Swiss German and spent four years in the Bundesliga.Bravo and Masip are good people. We have fun together in trainingTer Stegen has also struck up a close friendship with Marc Bartra and Sergi Roberto, as well as his goalkeeping colleagues Claudio Bravo and Jordi Masip. “We haven’t had much time to get to know each other” he admitted. “But they’re good people and we have fun together in training.”
Coach José Ramón de la Fuente is in charge of the first team goalkeepers this season, and Ter Stegen commented that “the sessions are very different to what we did in Germany, but we talk a lot and I understand what he wants of us, and of me. We’re getting on fine”.
