Manchester City confirmed on Tuesday morning that Eric Garcia would be joining Barcelona on a free transfer when his contract at the Etihad Stadium expires on June 30.
The Premier League champions wrote a mini biography of his achievements while wishing him all the best success in Spain, but why was such a valuable player allowed to leave?
The 20-year-old joined City from Barca in 2017 and has gone on to make 35 appearances across the board, picking up one assist. He’s also made seven caps for Spain off the back of his time at City, but Garcia struggled to nail down a starting place in Manchester due to stiff competition at centre-back.
In 2020/21, Pep Guardiola preferred Ruben Dias, John Stones, Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake despite calling Garcia his “favourite player” from the previous campaign, so it’s no surprise the central defender wanted out.
And the reason Barcelona were so keen to bring the 20-year-old was because they needed to bolster their backline without spending a premium. Barca’s financial situation is in disarray, partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic, so the opportunity to land a hot prospect on a free transfer was too good to turn down.
In other news, Riyad Mahrez let Manchester City down against Chelsea