Barcelona goalkeeper in contact with club director over summer exit

Barcelona will be in contact with a lot of players this summer in the hopes of conducting one final overhaul for the team.

The club realise that they need to compete against the very best in Real Madrid, who have already reached the Champions League final this season and will soon add Endrick and Kylian Mbappe to their arsenal in the summer.

However, none of that can happen if Barcelona do not sort out their sales and look for appropriate replacements in high-priority positions.

One of the players now suddenly linked with an exit, although with little financial upside for Barça, is secondary goalkeeper Inaki Pena.

Meeting with Deco

According to a report by Jijantes, as relayed by SPORT, Deco met with Pena’s agent today to discuss the player’s future and his lack of minutes at the club with Marc-Andre ter Stegen occupying the primary role.

Pena was playing regularly while ter Stegen was nursing his back injury this season, but has not had a single second between the posts since the German has returned to full fitness.

The Spaniard is likely looking for an exit, and had hinted at the same a few months ago, while speaking to the club’s official website.

“If you settle for being the second goalkeeper, you end up not even being the second goalkeeper,” he had said.

Pena had a fair few minutes this season. (Photo by David Ramos/Getty Images)

Barcelona’s options

Barcelona will likely not stand in the way of Inaki Pena leaving the club in the summer, but will need to sort out a replacement for him in the team.

The best bet would be to rely on someone from within La Masia itself. 20-year-old Ander Astralaga is the best bet, while someone like Diego Kochen, at 18, is another very highly-rated option.

Either way, at this point it seems like Pena has played his final minutes for Barcelona – after a good decade of service across multiple divisions with La Masia.

Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/barcelona-goalkeeper-in-contact-with-club-director-over-summer-exit/

Author : Udhav Arora

Publish date : 2024-05-14 15:14:34

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