According to recent reports in the Daily Mail, City are keen to enter into new contract talks with Eric Garcia, amid reports of Barcelona’s interest in the centre-back.
Since joining Manchester City’s academy in Barcelona’s youth set up for a fee of £1.53 million back in 2017, Garcia has gone on to make just 14 appearances for City’s first team.
11 of his 14 first-team appearances have come this season, with the 19-year-old featuring in six Premier League fixtures, as well as once in the Champions League.
However, recent reports in Spanish publication SPORT have suggested that Barcelona are interested in a potential move to bring Garcia back to the club, with the Catalans apparently aware that the defender’s new contract talks with City had stalled due to the viral outbreak that has disrupted the football season.
In reaction to this news, it would appear that City have made moves to tie the defender down to a longer contract, which the report from Sport suggests expires in 2021, contrary to other sources which suggest his contract runs out in 2022, including the Daily Mail, which reports that City are looking to begin fresh talks with the 19-year-old regarding a new contract.
TIF Thoughts…
If Garcia were to make a return to Barcelona, it would certainly be a blow for Pep Guardiola and his side.
Firstly, Guardiola is said to rate the defender extremely highly, with SPORT reporting that the Spaniard claimed Garcia is an “incredible kid” who is “capable of leading the whole defence.” In addition to this, Guardiola also stated that Garcia is “intelligent” and “plays with focus and plays well,” before stating that he intends to give the 19-year-old “a lot of minutes.”
Would you like to see Eric Garcia given a new contract with City?
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Secondly, with Barcelona reportedly waiting to sign the defender on a free in 2021, should he fail to extend his current contract with Manchester City, City would have got very little first-team action out of a player they signed for £1.53 million when he was just 16, and would potentially be losing his services for no transfer fee.
As such, it would seem an incredibly sensible move by City to try their utmost to get a new deal sorted with Garcia as soon as they possibly can.