Barcelona have done ‘nothing’ to try and sign Eric Garcia from Manchester City this summer, other than tell the media they’re interested.
That’s according to Spanish journalist Lu Martín, who says the consistent rumours around the young defender are nothing but games from the Spanish giants.
Garcia has been heavily linked with a return to Barcelona this summer, four years after swapping them for Manchester City.
There have been numerous reports over the last few weeks that Barça were pushing to get him back, with his deal at the Etihad set to expire next summer and no sign of an extension being agreed.
Reports have stated that they view the defender, who was brought through La Masia, as an excellent market opportunity and City boss Pep Guardiola has even spoken of him potentially leaving.
At the moment there have been no advancements but, according to Martín – who worked with City boss Guardiola on the 2001 book La Meva Gent, El Meu Futbol – that is because the potential transfer is nothing but a publicity stunt.
Writing on Twitter, he claimed that Barcelona have ‘done nothing’ to sign García from Manchester City this summer other than ‘filtering’ their interest to the media.
El barça no ha hecho nada para fichar a eric garcia mas alla de filtrar a los medios su interes para luego decir ke no@puede igualar lo que ofrece el city. Es todo mentira. El city no@ha ofrecido nada ni ha recubido oferta del barça. Os lo digo yo https://t.co/f7iAlxOu3b
— Lu Martín (@LuMartinBCN) July 10, 2020
He believes that they have done this so they can then say that ‘cannot match’ what City are offering the defender.
As far as he is concerned, ‘it’s all a lie’ and City have not offered anything to their player or ‘covered Barça’s offer’.
Now, why Barcelona would do this is anyone’s guess, but Martín’s stance seems to be that it’s nothing more than a publicity stunt.
If that is the case, perhaps those in charge at Barcelona believe showing they are trying to bring in young players for the future, particularly ones who were developed at the club, will win back public opinion which is very much against them at present.
