Barcelona out-of-favour goalkeeper will travel with the squad for Asia pre-season tour | OneFootball

FC Barcelona will take off on their pre-season tour of Asia on Thursday, and Hansi Flick has some decisions to make with regard to the players he will take on the trip.

As has already been reported, some of the youngsters like Jan Virgili, Landry Farre, and Juan Hernandez, will not travel, and as such, have returned to training with Barça Atletic.

Meanwhile, other young talents such as Jofre Torrents and Pedro Fernandez ‘Dro’ are certain to be on the flight, along with new arrival Roony Bardghji.

There have been some question marks over the situations of out-of-favour first-team stars like Oriol Romeu, Pau Victor, and Inaki Pena – players who are not in the manager’s plans and are set to leave.

Inaki Pena will travel to Asia

However, according to Mundo Deportivo, unless there is a last-minute change, such as a transfer offer that satisfies all sides, Inaki Pena will be part of the Barcelona squad travelling to Japan and South Korea for the club’s pre-season tour.

This is the decision made by Hansi Flick. Whether Pena remains with the team beyond the tour is a separate matter.

At the start of this pre-season, the German coach has been faced with an excess of goalkeepers following the arrival of Joan Garcia and the contract renewal of Wojciech Szczesny.

Set to travel to Asia. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)

The continuity of Pena, under contract until 2026, is extremely unlikely. However, with Marc-Andre ter Stegen likely to remain in Barcelona due to his back injury, he is now set to travel with the team to Asia.

After what happened last season when his starting role was taken away and given to Szczesny despite not committing any major errors, Flick wants to show respect for Pena and his contract.

The La Masia graduate, for his part, is aware that he is not part of Flick’s long-term plans at Barcelona and understands that a move would be best.

However, the offers he has received so far do not meet his expectations. While open to negotiating a transfer, any move may take longer than expected.

There had been talks of Diego Kochen joining the first-team roster for the tour. However, it appears that the three goalkeepers for the camp will be Pena, Garcia, and Szczesny.

The pre-season tour begins on 24 July, with Barcelona playing three friendly matches, the first against Vissel Kobe in Japan, followed by two more in South Korea..