Iñaki Peña, a clone of Víctor Valdés: the keys to his promotion at Barça

A few years have passed since Iñaki Peña (Alicante, 1999) began to look at himself in the mirror of Víctor Valdés until he managed to take over the starting position in the Barça goal.. The youth player, who must be in charge of defending the goal while Marc-André ter Stegen is out, underwent surgery for his lower back problems this week, paid close attention to the one from L'Hospitalet when he began to get between the posts. And today, Xavi Hernández's confidence in his possibilities is maximum. “It is not an option to sign another goalkeeper,” stated the coach in the press conference prior to the match against the surprising Girona in Montjuïc.

His style of play, extremely comfortable when moving with his feet, with great reflexes, explosive agility and capable of perfectly holding up the forward in one-on-one situations, of course, is very reminiscent of that goalkeeper who was decisive both under the orders from Frank Rijkaard and Pep Guardiola so that the club would live a few dream years.

They both even have a very similar build.. Around 1.85 tall, something that some consider “short” to be a goalkeeper. Valdés' stops, at the time, like Peña's, are responsible for denying it. And there would also be added another kind of clone of L'Hospitalet's forged in La Masia: an Arnau Tenas who took advantage of the expulsion of Gianluigi Donnarumma to make it clear that he did not go to PSG to warm up the bench.

At La Masia since 2012

Although Peña took his first steps in the Villarreal youth team, a team he joined from Alicante, as soon as Barça's proposal arrived he had no doubts.. It was of no use to the Castellón entity to commit to making an economic effort to retain him.. The decision had been made: nothing and no one would stop him from pursuing his dream of making a name for himself and winning titles at Barça.. In 2012 he arrived at La Masia, where he always displayed a calm and discreet character that allowed him to get along well with everyone, both with his teammates and those responsible for his training..

Step by step, he climbed positions in the Barcelona quarry. Until, of course, the doors of the first team ended up being opened wide for him.. A real candy, although perhaps a little poisoned. Unseating Ter Stegen, one of the best goalkeepers in the world when his physique is with him, as he demonstrated last year, was going to be a titanic task.. For this reason, as soon as he had the opportunity, he agreed to go on loan to a Galatasaray where Domènec Torrent was waiting for him with open arms..

His long-awaited debut at the Camp Nou, although he was wearing the Turkish team's jersey in the first leg of the round of 16 of the 2021-22 Europa League, was simply spectacular. Time and again he was in charge of frustrating the approaches of those who, until not so long ago, had been his teammates and left a clean sheet. In Istanbul, however, Xavi's men would finally be able to seal their place in the round with a hard-fought victory (1-2).

Contract extension

Peña has always dreamed of being Barça's starting goalkeeper. And character, of course, is not lacking. At the beginning of this year, with his renewal practically closed, he was on the verge of not signing it after being ousted by Ter Stegen with a view to the duel with Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey. Finally, after speaking with Xavi about his situation, he signed the extension of his contract.

And now, with the great performances signed both against Porto in the Champions League (2-1) and against Atlético in the League (1-1), after leaving Vallecas with bittersweet feelings due to the draw against Rayo (1- 1), is finally seeing his dream come true. A dream that will last, at least, as long as Ter Stegen's absence lasts, whose return, in principle, could be delayed, in the best of cases, until the return of the round of 16 of the top European competition.