Manchester City will demand £30m from Barcelona for want-away defender Eric Garcia, who has refused to sign a new contract and extend his stay at the Etihad.
The 19-year-old – who joined from Barcelona’s academy in 2017 – has one year remaining on his current deal and hopes to return to his former club this summer.
Despite the risk of losing him for nothing next year, it is understood that City will not allow Garcia to leave during the current window unless they receive a structured offer totalling £30m.
Garcia also remains in contention to start City’s crucial Champions League last-16 second leg against Real Madrid on Friday night.
City believe that Garcia is a comparable talent to Ferran Torres, the 20-year-old winger signed from Valencia in an initial £20.9m deal earlier this week.
Pep Guardiola confirmed that Garcia had rejected City’s attempts to prolong his stay in Manchester at his pre-match press conference on Thursday afternoon.
“[Garcia] announced to us that he doesn’t want to extend his contract with Manchester City,” Guardiola said.
“He has one more year and after that, he doesn’t want to extend. We want it but he doesn’t want to extend it, so I imagine he wants to play in other places.”
Garcia’s desire to leave will come as a significant blow to Guardiola, who is rebuilding his defence following City’s failure to challenge Liverpool in the Premier League title race.
Nathan Ake completed his £41m signing from Bournemouth on Wednesday with the intention of competing alongside Garcia, Aymeric Laporte and another new addition.
However, Garcia’s decision may force City into a sale this summer in order to avoid losing him for nothing next year.
City may then be forced to enter the market for a third new signing at centre-half. Guardiola could instead hand a reprieve to either John Stones or Nicolas Otamendi, who have both been out-of-favour this season.
