Barcelona teenage prodigy will not travel for pre-season Asia tour | OneFootball

According to a fresh update from SPORT, it has come to light that Diego Kochen will not be travelling with the Barcelona first team for their pre-season tour of Asia.

Despite early plans for Kochen to be included as the third-choice goalkeeper, the situation has shifted, and Inaki Pena will now make the trip instead.

Initially, the idea was to keep Pena in Barcelona so he could finalise his exit from the club, allowing Kochen to travel and gain valuable experience with the senior squad.

However, the coaching staff has now decided that Pena will travel alongside Joan Garcia and Wojciech Szczesny. This means Kochen will stay behind and continue training with Barça Atletic, the club’s reserve team.

The decision is based on the fact that Pena’s transfer away from the club is not expected to happen anytime soon. Although the transfer window remains open until 1 September, there is currently no serious movement regarding his departure.

Unless something changes in the next few hours, he will remain with the team for the pre-season trip to Japan.

Kochen set for prominent Barça Atletic role

Diego Kochen will not travel with the senior team. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

While Kochen has not yet received official word that he will stay under Juliano Belletti’s command for the 2025/26 season, all signs point to that outcome.

It is to be noted that the 19-year-old trained with Barça Atletic yesterday and is now in line to be the team’s first-choice goalkeeper.

With Arnau Tenas, Ander Astralaga, and Aron Yaakobishvili no longer in the mix, Kochen is expected to take on a central role in Belletti’s squad.

If Pena does eventually secure a transfer before the window closes, Kochen could still be promoted to alternate between being the starter for Barça Atletic and the third-choice goalkeeper for the first team.

For now, though, he looks set to remain in Barcelona, focused on leading the reserve side through a crucial season of development.