Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola reveals defender’s exit to Barcelona.
Pep Guardiola has confirmed that their star defender, Eric Garcia, will not be renewing his contract with Manchester City amidst strong interest from Barcelona.
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The Spanish coach, in a press conference, stated that the youngster desires a return to his hometown despite their willingness to do everything to keep him at the Etihad Stadium.
"“Eric has told us that he does not wish to extend his stay at City, he has one more year remaining in his contract and does not wish to extend it further. We want him to continue but he doesn’t want to. We imagine he wants to play elsewhere” Guardiola said.Source Mundo Deportivo."
Barca have identified Garcia as the perfect replacement for 33-year-old Gerard Pique. Eric is a La Masia graduate and the 9 years he spent at the academy will surely help him establish himself perfectly in the Blaugrana system. On top of that, the two years he spent under former Barca manager Pep Guardiola has also helped him develop as the perfect center-back for the Catalans at just 19 years of age.
The Spanish side are known to be heavily invested in securing Garcia and it looks like they will finally fulfil their desire with City already signing Eric’s replacement after securing Nathan Ake from Bournemouth for 45 million euros.
The Guardian reports that the Premier League side will sell the defender for nothing less than 20 million euros with 10 million more in add-ons.
Are you excited about Garcia’s arrival at Camp Nou?