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Barcelona to secure key defender from Manchester city

ByNishant Narayanan|
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 18: David Silva and Eric Garcia of Manchester City shake hands prior to the FA Cup Semi Final match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on July 18, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Matthew Childs/Pool via Getty Images)
LONDON, ENGLAND - JULY 18: David Silva and Eric Garcia of Manchester City shake hands prior to the FA Cup Semi Final match between Arsenal and Manchester City at Wembley Stadium on July 18, 2020 in London, England. Football Stadiums around Europe remain empty due to the Coronavirus Pandemic as Government social distancing laws prohibit fans inside venues resulting in all fixtures being played behind closed doors. (Photo by Matthew Childs/Pool via Getty Images)

Barcelona looks to finalize deal for Manchester City star.

The phrase what goes around comes around is quite applicable to football these days as we have seen many footballers return to their ex-club after a series of unsuccessful spells. This is quite the case with Eric Garcia. The Spanish center-back who left the Barcelona youth academy in order to get a taste of English football may now be on his way back to his former club. Although the deal has not been finalized yet, it is believed that Manchester City are asking for at least 18 million to let go of him.

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The 19-year-old has barely played any games for the senior team, making most of his appearances in the under 18s Premier Leagues. The player had a chance last season with Laporte out injured for the majority of the season but Pep Guardiola trusted Fernandinho more than the youngster. City really need to strengthen their backline as the team has not looked the same since Vincent Kompany left them. Garcia could have gone on to become one of the main defenders for the club but Pep has no short term plans for him and the player is getting impatient and would like a move elsewhere.

Barca on the other hand also requires a solid defender as Nelson Semedo will likely move to Wolves and thus they would need his replacement. Although Garcia is traditionally a center-back, the youngster has the ability to play as a right back. Bringing in the Spaniard would make a lot of sense for Koeman’s team as Garcia used to play at Barca’s youth academy before and is still very young. He fits Koeman’s plans of bringing in younger players with good potential. The sale of Semedo should also raise enough money for the Catalan side to buy Garcia.

Although the center-back will not be a permanent solution for Semedo’s departure, he can play temporarily in that position before replacing Gerard Pique as a center-back. Manchester City will agree to the transfer as soon as they find another replacement defender but this deal is very likely to go through.

Can Garcia be the perfect replacement for Pique at Barca?

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