Manchester City center-back Eric Garcia is one of Barcelona’s main targets for the upcoming January transfer window, with the Catalans working to secure a deal before the summer.
Garcia left the Barcelona youth squad for Manchester City in the summer of 2017. The 19-year-old made his senior debut in English football at the start of the 2019/20 campaign before winning a sustained run in the side during the Premier League. Restarting the project ‘.
Yet even before the end of the season, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola revealed that Garcia would not extend his contract at the club – which expires in June 2021. Garcia later confirmed those suggestions and a return to Barcelona has been highly touted during the summer. , the Catalan giants have agreed to a transfer fee of 18 million euros.
However, a deal never came to fruition and Barcelona made Garcia a priority again in January according to Spanish publication Sport. Negotiations between the club and the player are believed to be advanced, with Garcia in a position to sign a pre-contract deal from New Years Day given his contract status at City.
If and when Garcia signs the deal, talks between the clubs can be relaunched as Barcelona are keen to bring the teenager back to Catalonia this winter, rather than wait until the summer when he would be available with a free transfer.
Buen test el de hoy against Portugal para prepáranos para el partido contra Suiza de Nations League! ???? pic.twitter.com/VUil5L4K0v
– Eric Garcia Martret (@ ericgm3) October 7, 2020
As late as November, it was reported that Barcelona would miss Garcia in January because City refused to lower the asking price and were unwilling to consider the £ 7million offered by Ronald Koeman. Considering Barcelona’s mind-boggling payroll, Spain’s soccer juggernauts are in dire financial straits to say the least and urged to get creative with the payout.
Sport suggest that if City let Garcia go in January, Barcelona will try to structure a deal that will see them pay “very little” and at the end of the season. Garcia is believed to be intending to return to Spain, even though City are offering better terms than their previous (and possibly future) employers.
City could sign a deal that would earn them a percentage of any potential future charges for Garcia or a deal with add-ons. Yet no matter how creative the accounting may be, nothing will be confirmed until the interim board currently in place in Barcelona is replaced by the club’s new president, with elections scheduled for January 24.
