Iñaki Peña hasn’t yet given up on his Barcelona career and hopes to return to the club and stay for many years once his loan at Elche comes to an end next summer.
The 26-year-old has enjoyed a productive
start to life at Elche, winning the starting job over the last month, keeping two clean sheets in his five starts and making big contributions to a newly-promoted side off to a fantastic start to their season as they sit comfortably in mid-table and far away from any relegation fears as of now.
Peña was asked by Diario SPORT if he still plans to be a Barça player once his loan ends, and his answer was emphatic.
“Any player wants to be where they’ve been happy, where they’ve spent their whole life, and that was my goal. That’s what the club conveyed to me; they saw it as an important step for me to leave, to have continuity, to feel important. Then again, you never know, football is unpredictable, but obviously, if you ask any player whether they want to go to Barça or not… 99.9% would say yes. And even more so, having been at La Masia for so many years, so obviously yes.”
Peña has always been a very serviceable backup at Barça and could continue to fulfill that role as Joan Garcia’s understudy once Marc-André ter Stegen and Wojciech Szczesny move on in the near future, and a good season at Elche will certainly help boost his confidence.
