Arsenal handed a major blow in their pursuit of Barcelona youngster – report

Earlier this week reports emerged that Arsenal had shown an interest in signing Barcelona defender Eric Garcia following his recent slide down the pecking order at Spotify Camp Nou.

But, according to Alredo Martinez on SPORT, the defender, who turned 22 years old recently, has no intention whatsoever to leave Barcelona, dealing Arsenal a major blow in their plans to sign him.

Garcia, a former La Masia trainee, left for Manchester City in 2017 where he spent four years before returning to Catalonia in 2021. The Spaniard made a lot of efforts to secure a move back to Barça, arriving on a free transfer.

Since returning, the 22-year-old has had his ups and downs at Barcelona. However, of late, Garcia has somewhat fallen off the radars, with Xavi Hernandez preferring Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen, Jules Kounde and even Marcos Alonso, at times, ahead of him.

It has essentially relegated the former Manchester City ace to becoming the fifth-choice centre-back at Camp Nou. The defender has not played in any of Barça’s last four La Liga matches and only made a substitute appearance in the Copa del Rey clash versus Intercity.

This paved the way for Arsenal to explore the possibility of a move for Garcia. The defender has worked with the Gunners’ manager, Mikel Arteta, during their days together at Manchester City, when the latter was Pep Guardiola’s assistant.

However, as per the report from SPORT, Garcia is not at all contemplating the possibility of leaving Barcelona at this point.

Instead, the 22-year-old Spanish international, who is well aware of the competition he has, will fight to reclaim his place in the side under Xavi. So, any potential move to Arsenal seems very well off the table at this point.