Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola recently opened up about his departing defender, Eric Garica, confirming an agreement with Barcelona.
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The Spanish coach has only featured the 20-year-old on nine occasions for the Premier League giants and many believed that it was due to his decision of wanting to join Barca for free at the end of this season.
In a recent interview, Guardiola spoke about not featuring the youngster this season, revealing it to be heartbreaking. Garcia was praised last season as many believed the youngster had immense potential after being given 20 matches to play.
But after reports started revealing a verbal agreement between Garcia, his agent, and the Catalan giants, his appearances for Man City started dwindling with the defender only playing three premier league matches.
Pep Guardiola talks Barcelona linked Eric Garcia
Guardiola revealed his personal relationship with the fellow Spaniard stating,
"“Eric Garcia is like a son. He was a guy last season that after lockdown was our best central defender. He never made a mistake and played in the quarter-final of the Champions League.”Source Goal"
And while many believed him to be the future star defender for the Citizens, especially after Pep extended his stay with the Premier League side, things could not have gotten any worse for the manager. Despite Guardiola’s every attempt to convince the youngster to stay, Eric was adamant about returning to his home.
The former La Masia graduate has finalized the decision of wanting to move back to Barcelona and Guardiola has officially revealed this fact.
"“He’s going to play in Barcelona and that is not an average player – he is a top player. He was not selected in the last two games and it broke my heart.”"
The Catalan side were strongly interested in bringing Garcia in the January transfer window and even offered City 10 million euros but the Premier League side refused this offer and will now lose the 20-year-old for free in the summer.
Many believed that the idea was to play him for one final season as Pep considers him as a top talent but Garcia is sadly seen warming the sidelines for the majority of the season with Man City already finding success without him.
Will Garcia resolve Barca’s defensive issues?