Barcelona have an agreement in place with Manchester City defender Eric Garcia for the January transfer window after failing to sign him this summer.
The Catalan giants chased the City centre back for the entirety of the summer window but failed to get a move over the line, with the clubs struggling to find a transfer fee they both agreed on.
The defender, though, has made it clear that he wants to return to the Nou Camp and given he has just a year left on his current deal, it’s widely expected that Barça will return in the January transfer window.
Mundo Deportivo say that is definitely the case in their coverage of the situation today, stating Barcelona already have a deal in place with the player.
The newspaper explains the club’s technical secretariat did indeed want Garcia back at the club believing that his quality and potential made it worth a move.
They also believed he would have a small asking price given he’s in the final year of his contract, but Manchester City refused to relent on that front.
They consistently demanded €20m for their man – €10m now and €10m in ‘simple’ clauses – but Barcelona refused to go above €18m – €10m fixed, €5m in simple clauses and €3m for more ‘complicated’ ones.
Manchester City weren’t interested in that, and so the transfer was not finalised due to a ‘lack of agreement’ between both parties.
The transfer saga is not over, however, as Mundo state that ‘there is an agreement’ between Barcelona and Garcia for January, although nothing has been signed as yet.
Now they don’t explain whether this is an agreement for a transfer in January, meaning they will negotiate with Manchester City again over a transfer, or a pre-contract agreement for him to sign and join on a free next summer.
The likelihood is that it’s the former so Barcelona can get Garcia six months earlier, but given the finances at the club, it would make sense for them to have a free deal already lined up.
Either way, it seems the transfer is far from dead, and this is one we’ll be hearing plenty more about come January.
