Iñaki Peña, in a match with Barça

BARÇA RELIES ON IÑAKI IN THE LONG TERM

What will Barcelona do with Iñaki Peña? This is the club's plan

Published:22/01/2025 - 17:08h

Updated:22/01/2025 - 17:08h

The FC Barcelona board is moving forward with its renewal plan for the first half of 2025. The next contract to address is that of Iñaki Peña, who will be a free agent in 2026

Calendar of FC Barcelona

After finalizing the renewals of Pedri González and Ronald Araujo, the FC Barcelona board hopes to extend Iñaki Peña's contract before the end of the season. The Alicante native, like Gavi and Frenkie de Jong, signed until 2026 and, regardless of the debate about his starting position, Barça wants to secure his future in the coming months, a strategy that will also be implemented with the Andalusian midfielder.

The case of the Dutchman is very different, as his renewal offer has expired and, for now, he is one of the players marked to leave in the upcoming summer market. In Iñaki's case, Hansi Flick himself has already given the 'ok' for his renewal, as the coach understands that he is a goalkeeper with enormous potential (valued at around €10M on Transfermarkt) who, beyond statistics, can contribute a lot to the team in the long term.

Barça does not intend to risk Iñaki Peña's future

Although Marc-André ter Stegen is expected to return to the starting position next summer, Peña will have the chance to compete head-to-head with the German for the spot, just as he has been doing with Wojciech Szczesny in the 2024-25 season. The Polish goalkeeper has gained prominence in January, but his poor performances against Real Madrid and Benfica seem to tip the balance in favor of the Spaniard. At least regarding important matches.

Peña has conceded 25 goals in 22 matches this season, with 6 clean sheets. Deco has recently shown interest in the Portuguese Diogo Costa (Porto) as a possible alternative to Ter Stegen, but the club's priority is to trust the current squad. The Alicante native renewed in 2023 for three seasons, with a buyout clause of 400 million euros. In principle, this year the negotiations should also be concluded in a couple of meetings, just as happened with his previous contract.