Barcelona youngster Inaki Pena will be spending the rest of the season on loan at Galatasaray, with the two clubs reaching an agreement on deadline day.
As confirmed on the club’s official website, Barcelona have reached an agreement with Galatasaray to loan out young goalkeeper Inaki Pena. The 22-year-old prospect will spend the remainder of the 2021/22 campaign in Turkey.
Pena signed for Barcelona’s famed La Masia academy in 2012 after spending time at the youth setups of Alicante and Villarreal. The Spaniard has developed at an impressive rate through the ranks at the Catalan outfit and has been a regular for the club’s B team in recent years, racking up 63 appearances, in which he has 22 clean sheets.
However, Pena has yet to make his first-team debut for the Blaugrana, with the shot-stopper behind Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Neto in the pecking order of things at Camp Nou.
Neto had been linked with an exit from Barcelona all through the January transfer window. There had been a strong interest in the Brazilian from various clubs. However, the La Liga giants decided to keep hold of the former Valencia custodian for the rest of the season, instead allowing Pena to move out on loan to help him gain vital first-team experience.
LATEST NEWS | FC Barcelona and @Galatasaray have reached an agreement for the loan of goalkeeper @inakipenya until the end of this season.
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) January 31, 2022
“FC Barcelona and Galatasaray Spor Kulübü have reached an agreement for the loan of goalkeeper Iñaki Peña until the end of the current season without an option to make the move permanent. The Turkish club will pay the player’s wages,” the official statement from Barcelona read.
As clarified in the club’s statement, Pena’s full wages will be covered by Galatasaray. The 22-year-old will stay with the Turkish giants for the rest of the campaign and return to Barcelona when the loan term expires as there is no clause to make the transfer permanent.
Following Pena’s departure, Barcelona will be hoping to get rid of one or two more players before the transfer window slams shut. Ousmane Dembele is at the top of the exit list at Camp Nou, but a move to Paris Saint-Germain seems unlikely. However, recent updates have claimed that Chelsea may be poised to land the French international in the coming hours.
Such a move could allow Barcelona to complete the signing of top striker target Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang after a move for the Arsenal striker hit the rocks due to disagreement over wages.
