The incoming Catalan coach is mulling over a summer move for the Barcelona goalkeeper despite the presence of England No.1 Joe Hart, who is lacking in one key department
Manchester City goalkeeper Joe Hart may lead the way with clean sheets in the Premier League this season, but that has not stopped Pep Guardiola from lining up competition in the form of Marc-Andre ter Stegen.
The Catalan coach, who will replace Manuel Pellegrini this summer, is trying to beat Liverpool to the signature of the Barcelona shot-stopper, and there's one very simple reason as to why he is such a fan of the German.
Ter Stegen, incredibly, boasts the highest pass accuracy of any goalkeeper in the Champions League this season with 86.8 per cent - the highest tally any keeper has posted since the 2011/12 campaign, when Guardiola's back-up keeper at Barca, Jose Manuel Pinto, completed 100% of his six passes in his one and only outing that term.
Former Gladbach keeper Ter Stegen even out-passes countryman Manuel Neuer, all the while Hart is languishing in 34th place in the Champions League, having found a team-mate with just 48.7% of his passes - 38.1% lower than Ter Stegen!
Guardiola's preference for a sweeper keeper who is comfortable with the ball at his feet is well known, so it is easy to see why he might be sceptical of Hart's ability to contribute to his passing philosophy.
Over the last two seasons in the Champions League, only Neuer (485) has played more successful passes than Ter Stegen (429), while the 23-year-old was also incredibly useful on the ball before he joined Barcelona, peaking at 73.2% accuracy in the 2011/12 Bundesliga season - which is a large part of the reason why Barca signed him in the first place.
- Goal