Chelsea & Bayern Munich 'Submit Offers' to Barcelona's Marc-André ter Stegen

Barcelona goalkeeper Marc-André ter Stegen has received interest from both Chelsea and Bayern Munich while he considers extending his contract at Camp Nou.

Tying Ter Stegen down to fresh terms is one of Barcelona's top priorities this summer. Talks have rumbled on for months, with the coronavirus shutdown making things harder than they already were, and there is yet to be an agreement.

As noted by Cadena SER, both Barcelona and Ter Stegen are interested in thrashing out a renewal, but given the difficulty in doing so, Chelsea and Bayern have lodged offers with the German's representatives.

Barcelona have asked players to take pay cuts in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak, and Ter Stegen is believed to be slightly frustrated by that. When recently asked by reporters (via Marca) whether he planned to extend his contract, Ter Stegen bluntly responded "we'll see".

Barcelona are still said to be 'more than optimistic' about getting a deal done, but the added pressure of interest from elsewhere will be an unwanted obstacle to overcome.

How genuine the interest actually is is another question entirely. For Bayern, they still have club captain Manuel Neuer in their starting lineup, while young Alexander Nübel is seen as the future of the position, so there is nowhere for Ter Stegen to really fit in at the Allianz Arena.

Chelsea's interest seems a little more plausible. The English media have already confirmed that the Blues are potential suitors of Ter Stegen, although the huge cost of any potential deal has stopped any real progress from being made.

It's likely that Chelsea have simply thrown out an optimistic offer in the hope of actually getting lucky, but the focus remains on cheaper targets like Ajax's André Onana, Manchester United's Dean Henderson and Burnley's Nick Pope.

One other unlikely target on the radar is Atlético Madrid's Jan Oblak, who has previously been described as the Blues' preferred replacement for Kepa Arrizabalaga. Like Ter Stegen, the problem with this one is the cost of the deal - with Oblak boasting a €120m release clause - and Christian Falk notes that Atléti are not concerned about losing their star goalkeeper.

Los Rojiblancos do not believe that Chelsea can afford a £80m deal for Bayer Leverkusen's Kai Havertz and a huge move for Oblak, and with the Blues still pushing forward with their pursuit of the German, it does seem more than a little unlikely that they will be able to afford the Slovenian as well.

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