Transfer Rumors: Barcelona Are Confident Of Signing Aguero’s Teammate Despite Reducing His Offer Value

FC Barcelona are reportedly confident of signing Manchester City’s Eric Garcia despite offering him a reduced offer.

Garcia’s current deal with Manchester City is due to expire at the end of this season. The 20-year-old defender is set to leave the Etihad Stadium as a free agent. Barcelona are looking to seal the deal for the former member of the club’s La Masia academy by the end of April, Spanish publication Sport reported.

Apart from Garcia, Etihad veteran Sergio Aguero is also set to leave the club on a free transfer this summer. If all goes as planned for Barcelona, the Catalans could end up signing both the players ahead of the new campaign.

Garcia was linked with a move to Barcelona during the 2021 January transfer window. But the deal never materialized. Ahead of the upcoming summer market, Barcelona have offered Garcia a new deal, but the proposal has been reduced. While the base salary has been lowered, the add-ons per season are expected to make up for it. The Catalan club is currently awaiting Garcia’s response to the latest offer the club has made to him, according to the Sport report.

The margin of difference between the January and the latest offer is minimal and Barcelona are hoping Garcia will take into consideration the ongoing tough time for all the clubs financially and accept the offer. It was previously reported that during the winter market, Garcia was so desperate to return to his hometown of Barcelona that he had agreed to move back to the Camp Nou side and play for free for the first six months.

Garcia, who rose through Barcelona’s La Masia academy, had moved to Manchester City’s youth set up in 2017 and made his senior debut with the former Premier League champions the following year.

It was also reported Arsenal was planning to use the connection of Mikel Arteta, who has a role in Garcia’s evolution when the former was Pep Guardiola’s assistant coach at Manchester City between 2016 and 2019.