Arsenal made an €20m offer for Espanyol goalkeeper Joan García towards the end of the last summer window.
The Gunners’ bid was rejected and the La Liga club referred to his €30m release clause.
Fast forward to February and Espanyol sporting director Fran Garagarza talks about Arsenal’s offer. He’s been speaking to Pericos Marca on various topics related to the club and Mundo Deportivo have relayed his comments.
The 23-year-old has a €25m clause in his contract that lasts until 2028. The report adds the fee will increase to €30m for the last 15 days of the transfer window, which is what they referred to when the Gunners made an offer last summer.
Arsenal ended that window by signing Neto on loan from Bournemouth on deadline day.
On January 7th, AS reported the north London club are still keen on signing the stopper.
Earlier this month, we covered claims from Spain that Arsenal have no problem finding a verbal agreement with García. They also stated Espanyol need to sell in the summer to improve their finances.
Garagarza now talks about Arsenal’s offer from last summer and insists a fee close to his clause would be enough to sign him at the end of this season.
“Clause or nothing? No. In the [last] summer window, with call from Arsenal in the last week, it has to be that [clause],” he said.
“But if you get an offer on June 14th that isn’t the clause but is close in fixed and variable amounts, Espanyol are not going to say no. We can’t say no. If a club comes with €8m for Joan García, that’s a bad sale, 100%.”
