Reason to be concerned: Barcelona youngster now fifth choice in pecking order

Not more than a year ago, Eric Garcia was regarded as one of the future assets of the Barcelona defence, especially after joining from Manchester City on a free transfer.

However, a lot has happened in Barça defence since, with the club notably signing Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen in the summer while Ronald Araujo has enjoyed a rapid rise to prominence.

According to Diario AS, this has led to the downfall of Garcia, who has not been able to live up to this potential since returning to Catalonia in 2021. Especially in the current team, the defender has not been able to consolidate himself as a first-team regular.

Although the former Man City starlet started the season relatively well, he has fallen behind in the pecking order lately. He is yet to even start in any of Barcelona’s last four league matches, with coach Xavi Hernandez putting his faith in other players.

Christensen and Araujo, in particular, have received the nod ahead of Garcia in recent weeks. The report even suggests that Xavi has Marcos Alonso ahead of the 22-year-old in the pecking order, effectively leaving Garcia as the fifth-choice centre-back for Barcelona.

This is not a good sign for the Spaniard, who has faced immense criticism even among the Barça fans for his apparent lack of consistency, especially against big-name oppositions.

Eric Garcia is expected to start for Barcelona in cup matches, especially in the domestic ones such as the Spanish Super Cup and the Copa Del Rey. But if he continues his unimpressive run of performances, the defender may soon become a liability for a club desperately looking to cut down on their salary budget.

Although this does not necessarily indicate that Barcelona may offload Garcia in the near future, the player himself certainly needs to step up his performances if he wants to remain at Camp Nou in the years to come.