Wii U Gamepad touchscreen problem

i Took out my Wii U a while ago and decided to start to play again.

I have a gamepad from 2014 with the screen having minor damages. I decided to turn it on one day and the gamepad wont let me move the control sticks as the gamepad is imputing a signal from the touchscreen. the screen is responsive but it wont input any other areas of the screen for a while.

Calibrating didn't fix the issue and I'm starting to think the scratches could be the problem and I just have to buy a new digitizer. the LCD screen has no damage at all and works perfectly fine.

I have the necessary tools to open it up and replace the screen but I'm willing to ask if there is any other way to fix the problem or if I need to buy a replacement for the gamepad

Thanks everyone!