Eric Garcia has been rumoured to join Barcelona for many months, and understandably so.
The young Catalan centre-back has progressed enormously at Manchester City under the guidance of Pep Guardiola, to the point that he is now a Spanish international.
As we discussed in The Barcelona Podcast, the Catalan club are in such a mess at sporting and structural level that the current moment can only be considered a transition season – even with Messi still in the team.
Eric Garcia is free from January 1st to sign a new contract with another club. If inputs coming out of the Catalan media are to be believed, a return to Barcelona is on the cards either in the current transfer window or, latest, the summer.
Eric Garcia would be a welcome addition to Barcelona’s weakened back line.
The absences of Pique and the poor form shown by Lenglet and Umtiti have hurt Barcelona terribly. Fortunately, youngsters Araujo and Mingueza have been decent when given minutes but, clearly, Garcia would be a welcome upgrade.
However, Barcelona are in a huge economic crisis that has forced players to reduce / postpone their salaries in order to avoid bankruptcy.
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Given that landing Garcia would incur a transfer fee in the region of €8 million in January, Barcelona would be wise to wait until the summer to sign the young Catalan – even if that meant risking losing the player to another club.
In the meantime, Koeman should continue to trust Araujo and Mingueza so that the Barca B graduates can continue to grow.
