Barcelona have been reportedly told to cough up €15 million to sign Eric Garcia from Manchester City in the January transfer window.
According to a report by Spanish publication Sport, Barcelona now know how much they need to shell out in order to sign Eric Garcia in the January transfer window. Manchester City have slapped a €15 million price tag on the Spanish international, who has no intention of staying put at the Premier League club.
Eric Garcia joined Manchester City from Barcelona in the summer of 2017 and it was another year or so before he broke into the club’s first-team setup. Since then, he has been inculcated further in Pep Guardiola’s squad, with the manager gradually increasing his game-time.
For some time now, it has been mooted that Garcia could be a big part of Manchester City’s long-term plans in defence. However, earlier this year, the youngster made his intentions clear. In the final year of his contract with the Premier League heavyweights, the Spanish international has revealed that he will not be renewing his deal with the club.
Since then, a return to Barcelona has been mooted, with the Blaugrana even showing an interest in signing him this past summer. However, Manchester City managed to keep hold of their promising young defender, with Guardiola also being hopeful of “seducing” Garcia to sign a new deal.
However, the 19-year-old is adamant that he wants to join Barcelona, who now want to secure his services in the January transfer window. The continued interest from the Catalan giants makes sense as well, considering Ronald Koeman has just three recognised centre-backs at his disposal in Gerard Pique, Ronald Araujo and Clement Lenglet.
Samuel Umtiti is in the Barcelona first-team squad as well, but is now reportedly deemed surplus to requirements. With Pique on the wrong side of 30 as well, it is imperative that Barcelona secure their long-term future at the heart of the defence, making Garcia a viable target.
Now, Manchester City have set their price tag to sell Garcia in the summer transfer window. The English giants want €15 million in exchange of the Spanish international, a figure that far exceeds the amount that Barcelona are reportedly willing to offer them at the present moment.
What now remains to be seen is if Barcelona are willing to meet the €15 million valuation to finally secure the services of the 19-year-old, although the report suggests that they deem the price to be excessive. If the La Liga heavyweights wait on Garcia till the summer, chances are they could look for short-term solutions, with Shkodran Mustafi among those linked with them.