Left-footed centre-halves do not tend to come cheap these days. Manchester United eventually splashed out nearly £60 million for Lisandro Martinez, Sven Botman set Newcastle back around £35 million and Villarreal, amid interest from Aston Villa and Wolves, are already planning to make Pau Torres their most expensive ever export (90Min).
The £17 million release clause in David Garcia’s Osasuna contract, then, is unlikely to go ‘un-triggered’ for long.
According to Mundo Deportivo, Garcia is a target for Julen Lopetegui’s Wolverhampton Wanderers side. And that 20 million euro clause means the 28-year-old Spaniard can be snapped up for less than 50 per cent of the fee required to take Torres away from Villarreal. As far as high-quality, left-sided centre-backs go, you won’t find many playing regularly at the top level more affordable than David Garcia.
Garcia does not merely represent impressive value for money either. He’s versatile, two-footed, a massive aerial threat at both ends in the pitch, and a natural-born leader to boot.
The Pamplona-born colossus, who has captained his side eight times in this La Liga season, scored four times from centre-back in 2021/22, while averaging a far better aerial duel success rate than any of the defenders currently earning their trade at Molineux (WhoScored).
Garcia, should he arrive in January, would bring some vital experience and fight to a Wolves defence shorn of the nous and consistency of Romain Saiss and Conor Coady. In short, what’s not to like?
Wolves could sign Osasuna defender David Garcia for a bargain £17m
With talks regarding Atletico Madrid’s Brazil international Matheus Cunha progressing, and with Sevilla left-back Marcos Acuna potentially reuniting with Lopetegui at Molineux too, bottom-of-the-table Wolves certainly cannot be accused of letting the grass grow beneath their feet. The January window isn’t even open yet, and already Wolves are making serious progress in their pursuit of high-quality, high-profile additions.
But the good news, as far as Wolves’ local rivals Aston Villa are concerned, is that Garcia’s arrival at Molineux could remove one potential obstacle from Unai Emery’s path as the former Villarreal boss looks to spark a reunion with Pau Torres at Bodymoor Heath.
“Pau Torres is an amazing player,” Emery told Football London last year of the Spain international,, who is part of Luis Enrique’s squad for the Qatar World Cup. “I think he’s top. I’ve been a coach at Sevilla, PSG, Arsenal and I’ve never seen a centre-back like Pau Torres.
“I think he’s going to play at the highest level. He’s playing now in the national team but he can play in the top teams in Europe very soon.”
According to 90Min, Wolves were one of Aston Villa’s main challengers for Torres; Lopetegui a ‘keen admirer’ of a silky, left-footed centre-half who caught his eye in La Liga. Suggestions that Wolves have turned their attention to the more affordable, attainable Garcia, however, could inadvertently lay the foundations for another Spain-based centre-half to join him in the Midlands.
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