Arsenal missed out on the signing of Eric Garcia from Barcelona after the centre-back joined Girona on a season-long loan deal in the final hours of the transfer window, according to football.london.
Mikel Arteta was reportedly in the market for defensive reinforcements during the closing stages of the window. Garcia emerged as a target with the Daily Star reporting that Arsenal were hoping to sign the 22-year-old on loan from Barcelona.
However, the North Londoners missed out as Girona officially unveiled the centre-back as their latest addition on deadline day and the Spain international will spend the 2023/24 term at the Estadi Montilivi.
It was not surprising to see Barcelona part ways with Garcia. Xavi has an abundance of talent at his disposal in the central defensive positions. Ronaldo Araujo, Jules Jounde and Andreas Christensen seem to be the Blaugrana manager’s preferred options in the backline.
As a result, Garcia had been a bit-part player at Barcelona over the previous two years. The defender joined the La Liga giants in the summer of 2021 on a free transfer after leaving Manchester City.
Arsenal’s defensive options
However, the Spaniard failed to established himself during his time at Barcelona and he’s now joined Girona to play regular first team football.
It was understandable that Arsenal were eyeing a move for the centre-back, considering the injury to Jurrien Timber. The Dutchman has been ruled out for the majority of the season after undergoing knee surgery.
Garcia is a player with past experience of playing in the Premier League and knows Arteta from their time together at Man City. Therefore, he could have been a shrewd signing for the Gunners had they managed to get a deal done.
Arsenal failed to bring in another defender on deadline day and Arteta’s defensive now looks worryingly thin. The Gunners have just six senior defenders available after selling Rob Holding to Crystal Palace. Kieran Tierney and Nuno Tavares also left the club last week.
Arteta will now have to make do with William Saliba, Ben White, Jacub Kiwior, Oleksandr Zinchenko, Takehiro Tomiyasu and Gabriel Magalhaes as his defensive options until the January window.
Arsenal have lost considerable depth in their defence as compared to last season. Hopefully, the Gunners will get lucky with minimal injuries and will not have to worry about the lack of reinforcements to the backline this summer.
