According to The Mirror (13/12, p74), Barcelona want to try and rush through a deal for Manchester City defender Eric Garcia this week.
It’s claimed that Barcelona chiefs are pushing to speak to City this week to try and set up a January deal for the centre back.
Garcia, 19, is expected to re-join Barca when his City contract expires in the summer, but they want him sooner than that.
Barca have failed with a £5.5million bid for their former defender, but now want to ramp up talks this week with a £7.2million offer.
Blocking Arsenal’s interest
It’s very interesting that Barcelona are allegedly pushing to try and tee up a Garcia deal this week, because the rumour has come just days after the teenager was linked with Arsenal.
The Sun reported that Mikel Arteta wants to reunite with Garcia at the Emirates Stadium, having previously worked with him at City.
Beating Barcelona was always going to be the key to any Garcia pursuit, and it now seems that the Catalan giants are responding swiftly.
This is a real dent to Arsenal’s hopes of a deal, and Arteta will surely be monitoring this situation closely as he considers Garcia for a January move.
Receive exclusive football transfer news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
