Manchester City are “confident” that Eric Garcia will stay with them despite claims he has agreed personal terms with Barcelona.
The Blues are ready to give the 19-year-old defender a big pay increase and extended contract after his outstanding form since the restart.
But his displays have caught the attention of his former club Barcelona – and one report from Spain said that Garcia wants to return home and has agreed personal terms with the Catalan club.
And when Pep Guardiola was asked about the possibility of Garcia going, he sounded very much like he did when Leroy Sane was being openly courted by Bayern Munich – and that ended with Sane joining the German giants last week.
It would be a flagrant breach of Fifa rules, if Garcia has agreed terms with Barca, as there has been no approach to City.
But, like Sane, Garcia only has one year left on his current City deal, and if he does indicate that he wants to leave, City would be forced to sell so they did not lose him for nothing next summer.
When Pep Guardiola was asked about the situation, he felt Garcia was ready to stay.
“He has one more year on his contract,” said Guardiola. “If they want him they must call him and we are going to try to convince him to stay here for many, many, many years.
“I am confident he will stay but at the end it is his decision. He knows we want him but it is the same with Leroy.
“We want him but if he doesn't want to stay we cannot do anything else. He knows, his agent knows, his family knows that we want him.”
