pgzen Barcelona goalkeeper Inaki Peña, 25, was close to joining Manchester United in 2014 before changing his mind. pgzen

Jordi Roura, former assistant to late Barcelona manager Tito Vilanova, has revealed that Inaki Peña almost signed for Manchester United in the summer of 2014 but was convinced to stay at the club, Mundo Deportivo reports on Thursday.  ( pgzen )

Roura previously worked as assistant to Vilanova, the coach of the Blaugrana’s La Liga title-winning side that won 100 points in the 2012-13 season, before joining Barcelona’s youth system alongside Aureli Altimira in 2014 following the death of Tito, at a time when two major challenges were being faced over the futures of Peña and Daniel Olmo. 

‘We know he has an agreement with Manchester United, he went there and did everything, it’s a done deal,’ Roura said of Peña at United. 

However, the former Barcelona youth system manager has revealed he was able to convince Pena to stay at the club and he has remained there ever since, establishing himself as the Blaugrana’s number one after Marc-Andre ter Stegen’s injury. 

‘We spoke to him, we presented our plans for the future, what we expected from him, and to our surprise we were able to convince him and he decided to stay.’

‘He’s a great kid, a consistent professional, we’re delighted he’s had the chance and he’s doing what he’s doing now.’

Meanwhile, Roura also spoke about Olmo’s situation, which is different from Peña’s, as the player chose to leave La Masia in 2014, heading to Dinamo Zagreb before moving to RB Leipzig and returning to the club this past summer. 

‘When we arrived and everything was done, his dad called me when we arrived and I think he was a bit sluggish. We were waiting for a meeting and they didn’t make everything clear.’

‘We were almost crazy to see if we could solve the problem and improve the environment, but he told us that they had promised Dinamo. Luckily, he didn’t listen to us because he was doing a great job.’