© GiveMeSportEric Garcia Manchester City Barcelona
Barcelona are closing in on a deal to sign Manchester City defender Eric Garcia as they await the player's response following their offer, according to Sport.
What's the hold-up?
Garcia has been strongly linked with a return to the Camp Nou as he enters the final stages of his deal at the Etihad Stadium but recent reports suggested the Spanish giants had changed the proposal they had originally offered him.
However, Sport claim that Barca do not feel they have reduced what was on offer, only that they have restructured the financial package.
Now, they are reportedly waiting for the green light.
Is anyone else keen?
The report also suggests that the La Liga titans are keen to wrap up a deal quickly due to the fact Chelsea, Arsenal and Paris Saint-Germain are also monitoring the situation.
Would City miss him?
As much as Pep Guardiola appears to rate the 20-year-old (going as far as to refer to him as 'like a son' in March) it's hard to suggest City would miss at the moment.
The form of John Stones and Ruben Dias have helped City build the tightest defence in the Premier League, while the likes of Nathan Ake and Aymeric Laporte can act as back-ups.
Garcia, meanwhile, hasn't started a league game for the club since October, so it's not as if City's first choice defence will be taking too much of a blow once he leaves.
Why didn't they sell him sooner?
It does seem strange to allow a Spanish international to enter the final stages of his contract without selling him first. Clearly not an ideal situation, it wouldn't have been much of a surprise to see him leave last summer, when City could have still demanded a fee.
However, back in August 2020, the Evening Standard reported that the Manchester club were still asking for £30m because they rated him as one of the best young centre-backs in Europe.
Obviously, no one proved willing to part with that fee so City's refusal to let him go cheaply has ultimately cost them a lot of money. Still, that speaks to a club who will not be bullied into anything they don't want to do in the transfer market.