Just when it appeared we’d heard the last of Manchester City defender Eric García, Barcelona decided to throw a spanner into the works.
The Spanish defender’s contract at the Etihad expires in the summer, and he’s made it clear he will be leaving when it does.
That’s because he wants to return to Barcelona, whom he left to join Manchester City in 2017, with the Spanish giants having chased him for the best part of the last year.
They wanted García last summer but couldn’t strike a deal with City over their valuation, while a move in January failed because the presidential candidates couldn’t agree to sanction the transfer.
Unperturbed, García has simply waited, and it appeared he would be joining Barcelona in the summer instead, with a deal already agreed and pretty much everyone at the Nou Camp accepting the transfer.
Things rarely go smoothly at Barcelona these days, though, and Marca say there is now another snag in the move for the Manchester City man.
They explain that after taking office a few days ago, new sports director Mateu Alemany gave the ‘green light’ to finalise the move for García.
They already had a ‘closed agreement’ for the last year with the defender, and with his deal at Manchester City expiring in the summer, there is no need to reach an agreement with them this time around.
However, Barcelona have now ‘modified the amounts’ of the pre-agreed contract, offering García less than they were previously and leaving him with something to think about.
While he has ‘always wanted’ to return to Barcelona and has ‘bet very hard’ to make it happen, this decision by the club is obviously something of a disappointing one.
Thus he now ‘studies’ the offer and delayed making a decision on it, presumably as he tries to decide whether he’s been short-changed somewhat.
Barcelona, meanwhile, continue to support signing the defender but now want to do so at a lower cost than previously planned.
