Barcelona significantly reduce contract offer to Man City's Eric Garcia
By Tom Gott
Barcelona have gone back on their verbal agreement to sign Manchester City's Eric Garcia and have now asked the centre-back to accept a reduced deal to seal his move to Camp Nou - reported to be worth half of the initial agreement.
The 20-year-old's contract at City is winding down and he has long been expected to join Barcelona on a free transfer this summer. Personal terms were agreed 12 months ago and it has since seemed like a case of when, rather than if.
Both Garcia and Barcelona were thought to be relaxed about the situation, safe in the knowledge that everything had already been agreed anyway. But according to Marca, the Spanish side have withdrawn their offer and replaced it with one with a significantly lower salary.
RAC's Gerard Romero followed up the report and confirmed that the deal now on the table is worth half of what Garcia initially agreed to.
Barcelona remain keen to sign Garcia, but amid rising debts and the desperate attempts to lower the wage budget, the decision has been made to renege on their initial agreement with Garcia in an attempt to save some money.
Every player in the Barcelona squad has been (or will soon be) asked to take a pay cut to help the team stay afloat in the aftermath of the COVID-19 outbreak, so this isn't unique to Garcia.
☎️ Lo contó @marca y confirmamos
— Gerard Romero (@gerardromero) April 7, 2021
Eric García si quiere llegar al Barça tendrá que acceptar las nuevas condiciones del contrato. Le rebajaron la mitad de lo pactado en su día.
Depay si llega, también le afectará esa rebaja del contrato#mercato en @EsportsRAC1 pic.twitter.com/0a7dXgCwel
Marca don't mention how Garcia feels about Barcelona going back on their word, but according to Cuatro, the 20-year-old has been left less than impressed by the whole thing.
Garcia has always been keen to return to Barcelona, but the club's behaviour has forced him to rethink his options. He has not ruled out agreeing to the reduced terms, but importantly, the idea of renewing with City is now there too.
The defender is understood to have rejected two contract offers from City, who had publicly admitted that it looked like Garcia was heading to Barcelona, but this late spanner in the works could change things completely.
It's also suggested that Garcia is prepared to listen to offers from elsewhere too. After all, he has played just ten times in all competitions for City this season and has managed just 35 minutes of Premier League action since October, so remaining at the Etihad might not be in his best interests either.
A move to Barcelona seemed all but wrapped up, but La Blaugrana's latest offer has changed things, and now Garcia's future is back up in the air.