Barcelona plan to make Man City defender Garcia first signing of Koeman era

Barcelona are planning on making Manchester City defender Eric Garcia the first signing under new boss Ronald Koeman.

The appointment of Koeman was confirmed on Wednesday and a report in Diario Sport claims the Catalan club will now push ahead with their pursuit of Garcia this week.

It follows on from City boss Pep Guardiola claiming the player would not renew his deal at the English club and the defender is now taking centre stage of Barcelona transfer news this summer.

Ramon Planes is the new sporting director at Barcelona, replacing Eric Abidal in the role, but he is said to have been the main figure involved in primitive discussions with City over the defender’s future.

It is claimed that City are hopeful of a €23m deal for the player but it remains uncertain what the transfer valuation would be as his contract expires next summer and the Blaugrana’s transfer finances are limited.

The central defender has been a Cule all his life but joined City in 2017 from the Catalan giants, with previous multiple reports claiming they are eyeing a return for the player this summer.

Reports have drawn parallels between Garcia and that of Gerard Pique – who left La Masia’s youth academy due to mismanagement and joined Manchester United, before returning to the Camp Nou and enjoying a long and distinguished career at the club.

Manchester City have already completed the signing of Nathan Ake from Bournemouth this summer and it is unclear if Garcia would be involved prominently in the first-team next season, with the latest news heightening the possibility of a summer exit.

Tags Eric Garcia Ronald Koeman

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