Barcelona homegrown star feels at ‘his best’ after regular game-time, renewal talks in sight

Inaki Pena stepped up and shone on the grasses of the Santiago Bernabeu last weekend to help Barcelona to a 4-0 win against Real Madrid.

The Spanish goalkeeper was under pressure with fans calling for Wojciech Szczesny to replace him in the starting lineup, but Hansi Flick retained faith in him and he delivered results in some style.

Pena was sensational against Los Blancos, making a surreal save in the first half to deny Jude Bellingham and blocking Kylian Mbappe’s chances on multiple occasions.

True level shown

As revealed in a recent report by SPORT, Pena is delighted with his performance and quality against Real Madrid and feels he is closer than ever to his best.

The La Masia graduate has always known that his level was what he proved on Saturday night, but what he was lacking was regular game time and the manager’s faith. Granted both under Flick, it is not surprising that he played a blinder in Madrid.

The report also furthers that the 25-year-old is keeping his mentality the same irrespective of the result on the field and thus is unperturbed by whether the team loses or not.

Contractual situation

Pena’s current contract with Barcelona runs until the summer of 2026 and the player is happy with his current situation.

Barcelona are yet to contact the player over a renewal proposal but are planning to initiate discussions over a new deal in the coming months.

However, neither party is in a hurry to do so, especially because the player wishes to focus on the season in hand until then.

If Pena can retain the same level of performances week in and week out, he will likely hold on to the starting position this season and will only possibly lose it once Ter Stegen is back. Any slip-up, however, will open the door for Szczesny.