Decision time for Barcelona defender as struggles over regular minutes continue

It has been a difficult season for Eric Garcia at Barcelona. While the former Manchester City defender started the campaign as a regular in the first few weeks, things have gotten hard for the 22-year-old since the World Cup break.

Indeed, Garcia missed a few matches just before the World Cup and did not play even once for Spain during the tournament. Since returning from Qatar, the Spaniard has struggled for relevance in Xavi Hernandez’s side.

And, according to SPORT, Garcia will need to take a decision on his future in the summer as to whether he will continue playing a bit-part role at Barcelona or leave in search of game-time elsewhere.

To put things into context, Garcia has played just 457 minutes of the 1530 minutes that the Blaugrana have played in 2023 across all competitions.

The retirement of Gerard Pique ideally should have opened up a pathway for the Spaniard to get some game-time. However, that is not how things have panned out as Marcos Alonso has been preferred over him by the manager.

The former Chelsea man provides a left-footed option for Barça at the heart of the defence, something that is valued by Xavi. That, coupled with Garcia’s own inconsistencies, have led to him reaching a juncture where he needs to make a decision.

Either the 22-year-old will have to continue in the current role which is far from ideal for a player of his age or seek regular game-time elsewhere.

Barcelona, for their part, are not considering selling Garcia unless the player himself asks for an exit. Given that his contract runs until 2026, they could fetch a decent sum for his services in the summer in the scenario that the Spaniard does ask for a departure.