Slowly but surely, it feels that great changes are coming at FC Barcelona. The Catalan club remains one of the leading figures in European football, and must adequately continue to evolve. However, at the moment, all that surrounds Barcelona is uncertainty and chaos.
Xavi is already planning to leave the club in the summer, and he has announced this publicly. However, beyond just the managerial position being in a complicated situation, there are also positions within the team that are not living up to expectations. One of those positions is undoubtedly the goalkeeping one, and it has troubled the club a lot.
According to Carrusel Deportivo, one of the players that Barcelona do not count on for next season is Inaki Pena. The goalkeeper took over after Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s injury and became the side’s primary shot-stopper after acting as the German’s deputy for quite some time before.
However, his time as the starting goalkeeper for Barcelona has been far from convincing. Despite having a strong start against the likes of Atletico Madrid, the Spaniard has gradually lost his grip in terms of faith and composure. In fact, he has conceded 19 goals in the month of January of 2024 alone.
While understandably not all of the blame should go towards the 24-year-old Spanish goalkeeper, a lot of it understandably does as well. His goalkeeping errors have at times been almost comical this season, and a few of those came against Villarreal in the last defeat.
For Barcelona, the main hope is that Ter Stegen makes a swift recovery. The German goalkeeper remains Barça’s most reliable option in the goal, and his presence instills a lot of confidence within the team as a collective unit. For Pena, however, it seems that this season could be the end of the line.
