La Liga side become frontrunners for Barcelona outcast | OneFootball

Barcelona are still hoping to offload at least three more players before the end of the transfer window, with the Blaugrana unable to register all of their squad at the time of writing. Wojciech Szczesny, Gerard Martin and Roony Bardghji have missed the first two La Liga games of the season as a result.

The feeling is that once a mutual termination has been agreed with Oriol Romeu, Martin could be registered, while a contract extension with deferred wages and subsequent loan for Inaki Pena could allow Szczesny to get back into the fold. Meanwhile there is more uncertainty about the future of Roony Bardghji, but the Swedish forward is seemingly keen to reject loan offers elsehwere.

La Liga side leading race for Inaki Pena

According to Marca, Elche are currently leading the race for the signature of Pena. Celta Vigo and Como have both expressed an interest in Pena, but they say that Los Ilicitanos are now his most likely destination. The 26-year-old and both clubs expect the deal to go through, with former Barcelona assistant coach Eder Sarabia seemingly keen to add competition for or replace veteran Matias Dituro, despite his crucial saves against Atletico Madrid this weekend.

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Uncertainty over Romeu and Fort

However there is far less clarity on the next steps for Romeu, who has no destination lined up, and Hector Fort. The young full-back has received an offer to join West Ham United reportedly, but is evaluating his options still, and appears not to have jumped at that opportunity.

First-choice at Elche?

Dituro, 38, is the current first choice at Elche, but presumably Pena would be arriving with the promise of a starting role. The Uruguayan shot-stopper was in fine form during their opening two games though, and while there were one or two loose passes, Dituro also picked out some excellent passes.