Barcelona academy graduate has halted renewal talks – report

Barcelona have a number of players whose current contracts with the club stand to expire at the end of the season, with young goalkeeper Inaki Pena being one among them.

The 24-year-old is a product of the club’s famed La Masia youth academy and has been on the books at Barcelona for over a decade now.

Having spent the second half of the last season on loan at Galatasaray, Pena got his first-team breakthrough under Xavi Hernandez this season, with the Spaniard making his debut against Viktoria Plzen.

Since then, he has played two more matches in the early stages of the Copa del Rey. However, with game-time having been hard to come by thanks to Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s incredible run of form, Pena is now having second thoughts about continuing at Barcelona.

Indeed, according to Santi Ovalle (h/t Barça Times), Pena has stalled contract talks with the Catalan giants as he takes time to decide whether he wants to stay at the club or leave in search of regular football.

It had been previously reported that things were all set with regard to the goalkeeper’s extension and that he would be signing a new deal until the summer of 2026.

But things seem to have changed in recent weeks, with Pena now putting the contract talks on hold as he mulls over his next move.

With negotiations over a new deal stalling, Barcelona might have to start planning for the scenario where the goalkeeper opts to move on at the end of the season.

There is a possibility that the Blaugrana decide to promote Barça Atletic captain Arnau Tenas to the role of the second-choice goalkeeper behind Ter Stegen.

The 21-year-old’s contract also expires in the summer but Barcelona retain the option of unilaterally extending it by two more years.