Guardiola admits Eric Garcia will likely leave Man City

Martin Macdonald

• Updated: 19 May 2021 15:43 BST
• 2 min read

Man City manager Pep Guardiola has admitted that defender Eric Garcia will probably leave the club, with his contract set to expire this summer.

The Spaniard has refused a number of offers from Man City to extend his stay at the Etihad, and seems to have his heart set on a return to Barcelona, with whom he spent his youth career.

Garcia was handed a start from Guardiola in Man City’s narrow comeback win against Cheltenham in the FA Cup.

Afterwards, the City boss asked asked about Garcia’s future.

“I’m pretty sure he’s going to leave at the end of the season,” he said.

Barcelona are reportedly keen to complete a deal for Garcia in the January transfer window which would require a fee to be agreed between the two clubs.

The Blaugrana, however, are in a poor financial state at the moment and would struggle to make such a move happen unless the fee was minimal.

Guardiola says a January exit could happen, but it comes down to whether the clubs initiate negotiations.

“And [whether he leaves] now in this transfer window will depend on the clubs,” the former Barcelona and Bayern head coach ontinued.

“We’ll see until the end of the transfer window.”

Man City now have an abundance of quality in the centre-back position, with the resurgent John Stones now playing some of the best football of his career and competing for playing time alongside Garcia, Ruben Dias, Nathan Ake, and Aymeric Laporte.

Kevin De Bruyne and Ake remain absentees, but Guardiola was happy to welcome Garcia and Laporte back into the squad for the FA Cup and is glad to have his options back in defence.

“I will see next week but two important players are back to compete with the other ones,” he responded when asked if Laporte and Garcia could potentially play in the next game against West Brom in the Premier League.

“We were lucky to survive this period with only two centre-backs and we win 10 in a row but it is so important we have Aymeric, Ferran, Eric and hopefully Nathan soon.

“We need them all for the amount of games. It means we can rotate important players and it is so important they came back and played so well.”

Man City are currently second in the Premier League, two points adrift of arch rivals Man Utd but with a game in hand.