Barcelona confident in landing former prized defender

Barcelona may be on the verge of re-acquiring a La Masia graduate.

Barcelona’s plan to prepare for the future as well as the present could be taking shape as the club have received good news coming out of Manchester.

Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola confirmed that center-back, and former Barcelona academy graduate, Eric Garcia rejected a contract extension.

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"“Eric Garcia announced to us he doesn’t want to extend his contract with City, he has one more year and then after that, he doesn’t want to extend,” admitted Guardiola.Source: Sport"

The development certainly bodes well for the Catalans who despite making Garcia a priority, were debating whether to go after him now or wait until contract expired.

As Guardiola said, he has one more year on his contract and then is free to sign with whoever he wants.

This could push Barcelona towards signing him now so that other teams don’t come in and swoop him up. Garcia had been keen on a return and his decision not to renew is a sign of that.

However, it is unlikely that Manchester City are going to let his contract run out and let him leave on a free.

Barcelona know City’s asking price.

According to The Guardian, Manchester City have set a price tag of £30 million. The fixed fee would be £20 million with £10 million in add-ons. They also report that Guardiola would not be opposed to letting him stay one more season and run down his contract.

But City found themselves in a similar situation already this season with Leroy Sane. He also had a year left on his deal but instead of letting his contract run down, they came to an agreement with Bayern Munich on his transfer.

It would come as a bit of a surprise if City handle the Garcia situation differently.

Barcelona’s interest in the Spanish center-back is nothing new. Guardiola himself had been asked about the interest in his player and he said that if they wanted him, then they would have to negotiate with the club.

Negotiations between the two sides are set to pick up after the end of the Champions League.

The ball is in Barcelona’s hands. Garcia has made a gesture that he would like to return to his former club and now it is up to Barcelona to come to a deal with City.

Should they reach a deal, it would be a great pick-up for the Catalans. At just 19, they would be picking up a center-back with tremendous upside and one who already knows the style having grown up with it during his time at La Masia.