Cast your mind back over the last year of Manchester City transfer stories, and you’ll remember Eric Garcia featured prominently.
The defender entered the final year of his contract at the Etihad last summer, which put Manchester City in a precarious position.
That led to Barcelona trying to make a move happen, but the two clubs couldn’t agree a fee, and he ended up staying. It was a similar story in January this year when Barcelona’s finances basically got in the way.
Garcia eventually made the move on a free transfer in the summer, arriving as one of several free players in a cost-cutting transfer window.
They say that some at the club are starting to talk of a ‘major problem’ with the defender as no one expected him to be at the level he is.
The club had believed they were getting a player who could feature prominently, although questions were asked about why he wasn’t getting a chance under Pep Guardiola at Manchester City.
They’ve now come up against ‘the harsh reality’ that Garcia is actually more of a project at this stage and is ‘light years’ away from being at the required level to be a regular starter.
There is a belief the defender has ‘huge deficiencies’ when it comes to the defensive phase of plays while he also suffers from being ‘expeditious’.
While the club have confidence he will come good, his early displays have been disheartening, to say the least, with the player having ‘floundered’ against Real Sociedad and then ‘showed his shortcomings’ again against Bayern Munich.
It’s led to questions about the transfer, with his performances clearly not up to the level that Barcelona were expecting.
