Guardiola confirms Garcia will join Barcelona, says ‘he is like a son’

Manchester City coach Pep Guardiola, has confirmed in a press conference, that Eric Garcia will join Barcelona in the summer transfer window.

The defender has been continually linked to the Catalans since the end of the 2019-20 season. With his contract set to expire this June, he will most likely be on his way to Spain for free. Guardiola in his interview, was full of praise for the youngster.

Affirming the links to Barcelona, Pep also spoke of Garcia’s quality: “Eric Garcia is going to play at Barcelona I think… Barcelona don’t buy players because they’re average, it’s because they’re top players.”

He then heaped more praise on the 20-year-old, referring to his form after project restart: “Maybe you don’t know, but you cannot imagine what Eric Garcia means to me. He is like a son. He was the guy during lockdown last season that was the best central defender that City had. He never made a mistake, not one mistake. He played in a UCL quarter-final.”

READ: Debating on Eric Garcia’s possible move to Barcelona

When Guardiola is so certain about a player’s ability, more often than not the player is worth his weight in gold. Garcia’s transfer to Barcelona has realistically only been a matter of time. The youngster came astonishingly close to joining in the January transfer window.

The club’s delicate financial position meant they would have to wait out the youngster’s contract to acquire him for free. All the current presidential candidates and interim president Carles Tusquets were heavily in favour of signing Garcia, but eventually thought shelling out instant cash was unnecessary.

The writing however, seems set in stone now. The former La Masia boy will return home in just a matter of months.