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September 24th , 2024

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HANSI FLICK GIVES BACKING TO INAKI PENA TO REPLACE MARC-ANDRE TER STEGEN

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Sports

7 hours ago

Barcelona manager Hansi Flick did not rule out bringing in a goalkeeper to replace the injured Marc-Andre ter Stegen, but he was keen to empahsize his confidence in Inaki Pena, their current back-up. Ter Stegen underwent surgery on Monday, and is not expected to be back until May at the earliest.

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Flick was asked several questions about their plans for the goalkeeping position, with most of the talk in the Catalan capital over the past two days surrounding potential additions. He went out of his way to back Pena first and foremost though.

“First of all, I have to say that we have full confidence in Inaki Pena, who has come in and has been very professional.”

“Not just in preseason games, but in training, he is doing very well. We have full confidence in him.”

However he did not rule out bringing in an alternative.

“We have to speak about it, I have to also to speak with Dela [goalkeeping coach Luis de la Fuente] to see what he has to say. He has been here for many years, and he knows a lot, and we value his opinion.”

Barcelona have been linked with an array of potential alternatives to ter Stegen since Sunday night, and have 30 days to sign an emergency replacement, or they can wait until January. Using the former rule, they can use 80% of his salary to register a new player, and as it is outside of the transfer window, that player would have to be a free agent. Several veterans have been suggested, including Keylor Navas, and retired duo Wojciech Szczesny and Claudio Bravo.


Flick has confidence in Pena as Barca lose Ter Stegen to injury


Barcelona will be without injured goalkeeper Marc-Andre ter Stegen for several months, but Hansi Flick is confident they have a capable deputy in Inaki Pena.

Germany international Ter Stegen underwent a successful operation on Monday after suffering a complete rupture of the patella tendon in his right knee.

The 32-year-old suffered the injury in Barca's 5-1 win at Villarreal in LaLiga on Sunday and is expected to be out for at least eight months, according to Spanish media reports.

Despite Ter Stegen's season likely being over, Flick is remaining upbeat, backing academy product Pena to handle the step up.

"Inaki is doing very well, in pre-season too. He has worked very hard to be here. He is focused and ready to play," Flick said ahead of Wednesday's home game versus Getafe.

"We are confident but we also have to look at what we do because the players at the back are very young. For the moment, we don't feel under pressure and we trust in Inaki."

Having joined Barcelona's La Masia academy aged 13, 25-year-old Pena has made 23 first-team appearances, conceding 39 goals and keeping five clean sheets.

Pena made 10 league appearances for Barca last term, with his save percentage of 56.4% falling some way short of Ter Stegen's 73.5%.

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Pena also conceded 17 goals from 13.89 expected goals on target (xGoT) faced, giving him an underperformance of 3.1 in terms of goals prevented. Ter Stegen, by contrast, conceded 27 times from 27.84 xGoT faced.

The Catalans were already without new signing Dani Olmo and fellow midfielders Gavi, Frenkie de Jong, Marc Bernal and Fermin Lopez, plus defenders Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen, due to injuries.

However, they have made a perfect start to the season under Flick, with six straight wins putting them top of LaLiga, four points ahead of reigning champions Real Madrid in second.

But the former Bayern Munich boss is striving for more, adding: "We analysed the game against Villarreal and we saw a lot of things that can be improved. 

"We haven't reached the end of the road. You can always do more. We are moving forward step by step."

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