Leaked club report urges Barcelona to sign Eric Garcia in January

Stefan Bienkowski

• Updated: 19 May 2021 17:54 BST
• 2 min read

Barcelona must sign Manchester City defender Eric Garcia because the club’s current defenders aren’t good enough, according to a leaked club report. 

According to Spanish broadcasters TV3, Barcelona’s sporting director Ramon Planes put together an analysis of Ronald Koeman’s squad and concluded that the club desperately needed a new defender in the January window. 

The Catalan side currently have three defenders to hand, while Gerard Pique recovers from a long-term injury that will keep him out of action until April. 

Those players are Clement Lenglet, Ronald Araujo and Samuel Umtiti, along with youth graduate Oscar Mingueza. 

However, the report states that the injury-prone nature of Umtiti makes him an unreliable option in defence and also adds that 21-year-old Mingueza is still too young to be relied upon. 

According to TV3, the report also specifically highlights Garcia as an excellent target for Barcelona and a player the club should undoubtedly try to sign before the end of the current window. 

When profiling the Man City defender, the report apparently said that he was “made at home, knows the club and the culture and available at a ridiculous price compared to other players of his profile.

“In addition, the centre-back market is scarce and the player accepts our offer rejecting others worth much more financially.”

When asked about the leaked report urging the club to sign Garcia in Friday’s press conference, Barcelona’s head coach downplayed the critical tone it took to some of his key defenders and suggested that the club was simply planning for the future. 

Koeman said: “It is always important to have someone at the club working on improving the squad. If not for January, then for next season. It’s normal. 

“It doesn’t annoy me because it’s a job the club has to do. The players can’t be annoyed because we speak with them every day and they have participated in games. These things happen at every club and I don’t see any problem.”