Barcelona failed to secure their key defensive target from Manchester City.
Manchester City youngster and former La Masia player Eric Garcia has been wanting to leave Pep Guardiola and head to Barcelona for quite a while now. According to many sources the center back wants to be a part of the Ronald Koeman build-up happening over at The Nou Camp.
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However, despite being heavily linked with a move to the Nou Camp and talks on deadline day, the move failed to happen as the Catalans failed to meet City’s asking price. Eric Garcia can now join the La Liga giants over the winter in January or leave for free at the end of the season which is when his contract with the Citizens is up.
The Blaugrana made a final offer of 9 million euros plus add-ons for the Spanish center-back but the Premier League giants refused. Their asking price was over 15 million euros for the 19-year-old. The blues would rather have him on as a squad player this season than to sell him for such a low price. However, the 19-year-old can now head to Camp Nou for free at the end of this season.
With the departure of a club servant Nicolas Otamendi, the Manchester side was left with John Stones, Aymeric Laporte, and new signings Nathan Ake from AFC Bournemouth and Ruben Dias from Benfica. Garcia has made a lot of starts with the senior team post the coronavirus lockdown and is a key member of the city squad as of now. Hence, Guardiola is more than happy to have the youngster at his service during this time.
The young Spaniard even made his international debut for Spain a few weeks ago. Garcia has a bright future and his heart is set at Barca as his move to the La Liga giants looks inevitable. The Catalans will be extremely lucky to have the player as he is a very good passer of the ball and is extremely top in building up from the back.
Should Barca sign Garcia in January or wait until he is free?