Arsenal are reportedly planning to sign Barcelona outcast Eric Garcia in this transfer window, as per Football Transfers.
The Gunners have prioritised strengthening their backline this summer and have already purchased Jurrien Timber from Ajax in a £38m deal.
However, following his unfortunate knee issue, the North London club are reportedly planning to purchase a new defender to replace the Dutchman before the end of this window.
Several players have recently been mentioned as potential targets for Arsenal with Benjamin Pavard, Jules Kounde and Perr Schuurs being among them, but Garcia is now emerging as a serious option.
According to the report by Football Transfers, Arsenal are interested in signing Garcia and they have already started working to lure him to the Emirates Stadium this summer.
The report further claims that Barcelona are ready to let him leave this summer and ideally they want to sell him permanently to raise funds amidst their financial difficulties, but Arsenal are willing to sign him on a season-long loan deal to add depth amid Timber’s injury.
Garcia to Arsenal
After joining the Catalan giants back in 2021, the defender has struggled to showcase his best for the Blaugrana over the last couple of years. As a consequence of that, the 22-year-old has lost his place in Xavi Hernandez’s starting eleven.
The Spaniard is a talented player – who is comfortable playing out from the back and good at reading the game. But he lacks the recovery pace to play in the high defensive line and also lacks the physicality to play as a centre-back in the Premier League. So, It has come as a big surprise that Arsenal are planning to sign Garcia to strengthen their defence.
However, perhaps Arteta knows the secret of bringing the best out of Garcia having previously worked with him during their time together at Man City.
Arteta likes to have versatile players in his squad and Garcia is one as he is comfortable playing at the back as well as in the holding midfielder role. So, it seems the Spaniard’s ability to play multiple positions has tempted the Gunners boss to make a move for him.
It is going to be interesting to see whether Arsenal eventually opt to sign Garcia – valued at around £9m by Transfermarkt – over the coming days to replace Timber this summer.
