The innovative treatment that Marc-André ter Stegen is following to accelerate his recovery

The FC Barcelona seems to be seeing better prospects regarding the return of Marc-André ter Stegen to action. It should be remembered that the 32-year-old German goalkeeper suffered a complete rupture of the patellar tendon in his right knee on September 22, which required surgery with an estimated recovery time of seven to eight months. Initially, it was thought that the native of Mönchengladbach would not be able to play again with the Blaugrana team, at least for the remainder of the 2024-25 season.

However, it seems that the situation regarding Ter Stegen's return may be more encouraging than expected. First of all, the sporting director of the German Football Federation, Rudi Völler, stated that "he might be able to do it this year, and if not, next year I will go full speed," which is promising for the aspirations of both Barcelona and the 'Mannschaft' to have the goalkeeper back before the end of the 2024-25 season.

This idea has gained even more strength upon seeing how Ter Stegen has been training regularly at the Joan Gamper Sports City, doing individualized physical work on the grass, leaving impressions that suggest a more positive recovery than initially expected.

Now, as the cherry on top, regarding the possible recovery in record time by Marc-André ter Stegen, according to 'SPORT', it is due to an innovative treatment that the German goalkeeper is undergoing. This treatment is reportedly going to effectively reduce the time the goalkeeper would need to return to activity with the Blaugrana squad, potentially allowing him to return to the team in May or even a bit earlier, perhaps in April, without taking any risks.

What does this novel treatment that Marc-André ter Stegen is undergoing consist of?

According to the aforementioned source, this treatment, which involves the use of stem cells, is managed by doctor Robert Soler and has shown a remarkable success rate, as reflected in all 23 previous clinical trials. It consists of a series of steps, starting with the extraction of cells from the patient's bone marrow at the pelvic level under sedation.

Once the product is extracted, it is transferred to sterile rooms approved by the Spanish Agency of Medicines and Medical Devices (AEMPS) for a period of 20 days. During this process, the cells are cultivated and selected, choosing the ones that are beneficial and adhere to the plastic. Subsequently, these cultivated cells are implanted in the patient within a 48-hour timeframe.

This procedure, as explained earlier, enables the athlete to start recovery with load and resistance work sooner than expected, thus accelerating all steps in their recovery. A positive aspect is that this treatment can permanently regenerate the torn tendon, which is particularly relevant considering that the German goalkeeper has faced issues with that patellar tendon in previous campaigns. Therefore, this could definitively resolve this problem that has affected him for some time.

Barcelona is confident it will have the German goalkeeper sooner than expected

With all this in mind, it is not surprising that FC Barcelona, as mentioned by Deco recently, has opted not to venture into the transfer market making a significant investment in a 'top' goalkeeper. Instead, they have decided to rely on Iñaki Peña and Wojciech Szczęsny as guardians of the goal for this season, with possible alternatives like Ander Astralaga or Diego Kochen.

This has been done without reinforcing a position where it is expected that Ter Stegen, at 32 years old, can still defend for several seasons, considering that the professional activity time of a goalkeeper is generally longer than that of a field player, and taking into account that he has a contract until June 30, 2028.