Man City boss Pep Guardiola believes Eric Garcia will leave for Barcelona

Barcelona has been linked with Manchester City’s Eric Garcia for a very long time now and it seems like the deal is most certainly taking place. Although Pep Guardiola wanted to keep the Spanish defender as a backup, Garcia is homesick and he is not getting the chance that he feels he deserves. The Manchester City manager finally admitted that Garcia will most likely leave for Barcelona next season.

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The 20-year-old centre-back is a product of Barcelona’s youth academy but he chose to move over to the English side after he was not getting his breakthrough in Spain. His move to Guardiola’s side did not help him much and he has only appeared 31 times for the English giants. His patience has run out and he wants to return to his home side where Ronald Koeman is trying to make a more young and energized team.

Garcia is a perfect fit for Koeman and he can replace one of the many older defenders with the younger player. The Catalan side’s offer in the summer transfer window was however rejected and Garcia was stuck at City. Guardiola previously stated that he wanted to keep the player and would try to persuade him but it seems like his player has already made up his mind to leave.

Guardiola opens up about Garcia’s potential Barcelona move.

In a recent press conference before their 5-0 win over West Brom, Guardiola was asked about the situation with the young defender. This is the first time the Spanish mastermind admitted that Garcia has decided to leave City and join the Catalans. He said in the interview,

"“I’m pretty sure he’s going to leave at the end of the season,And [whether he leaves] now in this transfer window will depend on the clubs. We’ll see until the end of the transfer window.”Source Goal"

Barcelona will most probably wait till the end of the season to get the player on a free transfer rather than spending money straight away. Personal terms with the player have already been agreed on. With Ronald Araujo, Oscar Mingueza, and Eric Garcia in their roster, the club will have a solid young defense for many years to come.

Are you excited to see Garcia at the Nou Camp?