Marc-Andre ter Stegen talks role with Germany, Philippe Coutinho’s move to Bayern Munich

FC Barcelona and Germany goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen absolutely has the talent to be a starting goalkeeper for any club or country in the world. Blocking the 27-year-old’s pathway to being a starter for Die Mannschaft, however, is Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer.

Ter Stegen, it seems, has the right mentality for how to deal with a very difficult situation as he told T-Online (as captured by Marca):

It’s not an easy situation, but patience is part of a player’s job. There are moments in each career when you have to wait. I have established my priorities. I want to be as successful as possible and have the objective of becoming the No.1 for the national team, but not at any cost. Football is one thing, but for me humanity is the most important thing. I want to be able to look in the mirror and say ‘you have worked honestly and have openly addressed your ambitions internally, but you were always fair and you weren’t crazy on the outside’.

The phrasing by Ter Stegen is curious, but it would seem that he is indicating that he would not create any internal chaos to try and secure the starting goalkeeper position for Germany.

Ter Stegen is also hoping that his old teammate Philippe Coutinho can find joy in the game once more with Bayern Munich:

I just hope he has fun. He is not only a fantastic footballer, but he’s an even better person. It was not always easy for him with [Barcelona], so I hope he can enjoy football again at Bayern and I hope he feels comfortable. There’s not much to say about his quality because he is an absolute asset to the Bundesliga.

Ter Stegen can probably rest easy on that, as Coutinho seems to have made a smooth transition to Bavaria thus far.