Arsenal have made an enquiry for Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia, but their interest hasn’t progressed any further at this stage.

Joan Garcia playing for Espanyol (Photo via Garcia on Instagram)
Joan Garcia playing for Espanyol (Photo via Garcia on Instagram)

Matteo Moretto reports that Arsenal have made an enquiry about Joan Garcia of Espanyol, but the situation hasn’t moved much since then.

Moretto adds that Garcia wants to play football next season, and unless a big opportunity comes for him, he’s minded to stay at Espanyol to continue his development.

But the report concludes that if Garcia doesn’t leave Espanyol this summer, he’ll likely leave in 2025.

BARCELONA, SPAIN: Joan Garcia (top right) among RCD Espanyol players wearing black t-shirts in protest against referees prior to the LaLiga Santander match between RCD Espanyol and UD Almeria at RCDE Stadium on June 04, 2023. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)
BARCELONA, SPAIN: Joan Garcia (top right) among RCD Espanyol players wearing black t-shirts in protest against referees prior to the LaLiga Santander match between RCD Espanyol and UD Almeria at RCDE Stadium on June 04, 2023. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Moretto isn’t the only journalist to mention Arsenal’s interest in Garcia this week, with James McNicholas confirming that the goalkeeper has been identified as a potential signing and a suitable backup to David Raya.

The problem is that the move hinges on Aaron Ramsdale’s future. Arsenal are seemingly only interested in signing Garcia is Ramsdale goes, which is probably why their interest hasn’t gone further than an initial enquiry.

Garcia’s buyout clause is currently set at €25m (£21m), though Arsenal believe they should be able to sign him for considerably less than that, and perhaps even below his previous buyout clause of €15m (£12.6m).

Arsenal's English goalkeeper #01 Aaron Ramsdale warms up ahead of the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium in London on September 24, 2023. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)
Arsenal’s Aaron Ramsdale warms up ahead of the English Premier League football match between Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur at the Emirates Stadium in London on September 24, 2023. (Photo by HENRY NICHOLLS/AFP via Getty Images)

Garcia has been called up for the Spanish Olympic team, after impressing with Espanyol in the second half of the 2023/24 campaign.

It took a while for the goalkeeper to break into the team, only making his first league start on March 2nd. But he then locked down his starting spot, maintaining an 82.5% save percentage and comfortably outperforming his post-shot expected goals against.

Garcia also collected a very high number of crosses (2.14 per 90), at a 16.1% cross prevention rate, even higher than David Raya’s 13.0%. Raya is in the top 1% of all goalkeepers in that statistic.

The goalkeeper stands at 6’3″, which certainly helps with claiming all those crosses.