Inaki Pena has just enjoyed the week of his life at Barcelona — something that seemed impossible 11 months ago when the young goalkeeper was ready to see out his contract and leave the Catalan club on a free transfer.

Pena, 24, was given his chance as Barca’s No 1 when a back problem ruled out Marc-Andre ter Stegen last month. The German and his club are considering surgery as an option to treat the injury, which would likely sideline him for around two months.

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Pena has stepped up to the task of replacing the ever-present goalkeeper, not least in Sunday’s 1-0 win against Atletico Madrid. The highlight was a remarkable stop to keep out a Memphis Depay free kick in just his eighth Barca appearance. How his team-mates rushed to hug him showed how loved Pena is in the dressing room as a silent figure who has not taken an easy route to first-team football.

STOP THAT, IÑAKI.#LaLigaHighlights

— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) December 3, 2023

Over Barca’s last two games, against Atletico and Porto in the Champions League, Pena registered seven saves from eight shots on target. Then there were two crucial interventions against Atletico: the save from Depay’s free kick and another late effort to deny Angel Correa.

Pena would not have believed any of this in January when the Alicante-born keeper experienced his lowest ebb since joining Barcelona’s academy from Villarreal in 2012. Barca were about to face Real Sociedad in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals and head coach Xavi had a tough call to make — whether to trust in the youngster or rely on an inspired Ter Stegen in his side’s first cup match against top-flight opposition that season.

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Xavi opted for the German’s experience and left Pena on the bench after the La Masia graduate had played in previous rounds against lower-division sides Intercity and Ceuta.

That was a tough blow for Pena who, despite having verbally agreed terms on a new deal, told his agents to put talks on hold again as a result. With his contract set to expire in the summer of 2023, he assumed he would not be given the playing time he desired as long as Ter Stegen was in his way.

The cup tie against Real Sociedad led to a behind-the-scenes battle between two La Masia products to decide who would be this season’s backup goalkeeper: Pena and Arnau Tenas.

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Pena was Xavi’s second-choice keeper and Tenas was seen as the next big thing coming through the club’s youth ranks. Tenas was the No 1 for Spain’s under-21s, captain of Barcelona Atletic (previously known as Barcelona B), and had become a role model during his time in the academy.

The two players had different personalities. “Pena is a silent character, a bit more introverted but a hard worker,” a coaching staff source — who, like the others cited in this article, asked to remain anonymous as they did not have permission to comment — told The Athletic. “He is very similar to Ter Stegen in that regard and you can even see similarities in their gestures but also their skills and strong points on the pitch.”

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By contrast, Tenas was often compared to the most successful goalkeeper in Barca history, Victor Valdes, who was a key part of Pep Guardiola’s era-defining side. “Tenas was a vocal guy,” the same coaching staff source said. “A leader with strong character who would not hesitate to give commands to the defensive line. He was the closest version to Victor Valdes that La Masia had created recently.”

Both players had contracts that were due to expire at the end of last season, but negotiations dragged on until the closing stages of the campaign. The voice from the coaching staff insists Xavi wanted Pena and Tenas to stay as he believed they both “had everything” to be Barca’s first choice at some point.

Despite Pena’s anger after the cup game, Barca never withdrew their offer. Xavi emphasised Pena’s first-team potential to those behind the scenes and, at the end of June, the keeper agreed to sign a contract extension until 2026.

In Tenas’ case, Barca had the chance to trigger a clause and extend his contract for another year, but it would have involved a significant pay rise. The club had other plans: they did not trigger the clause and then-sporting director Mateu Alemany tried to renegotiate the deal with Tenas’ camp. They saw this as a demonstration of Barca’s lack of trust in the goalkeeper and he began to look elsewhere.

After starring at the Under-21 European Championship last summer, in which Spain were beaten finalists against England, Tenas joined Paris Saint-Germain on a free transfer. The 22-year-old made his Ligue 1 debut on Sunday after starting goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma was sent off in the 10th minute of a 2-0 win against Le Havre. Tenas made seven saves, prevented 1.31 expected goals and put in a man-of-the-match performance.

Fortunately for Xavi, given the toxicity of the entorno — the stage for constant noise and commentary on the club — they are in safe hands with Pena in goal. Not that the coach ever doubted it.

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“We can’t say we are not concerned about not having Ter Stegen, but there’s not been any moment in which we thought we were in a bad place with Pena — just the opposite,” a dressing room source says. “Xavi is completely certain he meets the standards to be a Barcelona goalkeeper.”

Xavi discovered that in March 2022, during his first season as Barca coach. Pena had been loaned out to Galatasaray in the winter window as a special request from their manager and Guardiola’s former assistant Domenec Torrent. The teams were drawn together in the Europa League knockout stages, where Pena produced a sensational performance at the Camp Nou — saving all four shots on target and preventing an xG of 1.1 according to Fbref.com, earning his loan team a valuable goalless draw in the first leg. Barca progressed in the return fixture but Pena’s quality was evident.

Now Pena is back at Barcelona, his moment in the spotlight looks set to continue. As someone who knows better than most what it takes to get a chance at Barca, he will not pass it up.

(Top photo: Eric Alonso/Getty Images)