Barcelona ‘Rule Out’ Contract Termination of Fringe Player, Working on Exit Plan

Barcelona started their La Liga title-defense still unable to register three players due to their inability to meet La Liga’s 1:1 spending rule.

Wojciech Szczęsny, Gerard Martín and Roony Bardghji remain unavailable for selection. Outgoing transfers would offer a massive boost in Barcelona’s effort to give Hansi Flick a complete squad and fourth-choice goalkeeper Iñaki Peña could be next in line to leave the club.

The original plan was for Peña to leave on a permanent transfer. Now, the club are planning to extend Peña’s contract until 2027, allowing him to leave on loan to offload the bulk of his salary—like they did earlier in the summer with Ansu Fati. The idea of terminating his contract is discarded because Barcelona would be forced to pay Peña’s full-season salary.

The change in stance to allow Peña to leave on loan would interest a number of teams. La Liga’s Celta Vigo and Girona, plus Serie A’s Como have shown interest in Peña, but were unwilling to pay a significant fee for his services. Now that he could be available on loan, Como and Celta are the two most likely destinations, according to SPORT.

Since the summer transfer window started, Barcelona have been eager to let go of Peña. However, two days before Barça’s season debut, Peña was the only goalkeeper in the squad registered to play.

Joan García eventually got registered and started for the Catalans against Mallorca, though, Peña was on the bench as his backup and some thought he was going to have to play after García suffered an injury scare during pre-match warmups.

The club has been hesitant to let go of Peña until they’re able to register Szczęsny to serve as García’s backup. But with less than 15 days remaining in the window, the hope is that Peña’s departure could facilitate the registration of the Polish goalkeeper.

It’s almost a guarantee that Peña will leave Barcelona this summer, however, if his exit can’t be finalized this week, there’s a good chance he’s on the bench as García’s backup when the Catalans visit Levante for their second game of the season.