Eric Garcia has been linked with a summer exit from FC Barcelona owing to the increased competition in the defensive ranks and the club’s need to shed wages and generate revenue.
However, according to a report from Gabriel Sans of Mundo Deportivo, the 22-year-old Spaniard has no plans of leaving Barça this summer and is very happy at the club despite his current predicament.
Garcia joined Barcelona in the summer of 2021, arriving as a free agent after his contract at Manchester City expired. However, he has been unable to nail down a regular spot in the starting XI at the club especially after Xavi took over the reins as manager.
Last season, Garcia found himself behind Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde, and at times even Marcos Alonso in the pecking order of things at Barça.
Now with the La Liga champions further strengthening their ranks with the addition of Inigo Martinez, Garcia’s game-time is likely to take a further hit.
With the club needing to trim their salary mass, they were said to be open to offloading Garcia, with Real Betis taking a keen interest. The defender is also attracting suitors from the Premier League as well.
However, the Spaniard is prepared to reject all those advances as he prefers to stay at Barcelona and succeed at the club even though game-time will be hard to come by next season.
Garcia is said to be happy at Barcelona and would welcome the chance to continue even if it would mean that Xavi will use him as a defensive midfielder, like he did towards the end of the last season.
The report states that the technical staff at the club continue to value Garcia not just because of his abilities on the pitch but also due to his professionalism, his quality to be a team player, and a leader for the youngsters.
As such, even though the sports management department might be open to selling him, the technical staff would be happy to have Garcia around and Xavi plans to give him minutes as a defensive midfielder next season.
