Arsenal held new talks for Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia in the January transfer window, intending to make another move for the player this summer.
Though Arsenal had other areas of focus in the January transfer window, the Gunners clearly still intend to make another goalkeeper signing this summer.
That’s no surprise, given the current options include David Raya, a loanee, and a group of teenagers.
Some of those teenagers are very talented, and Karl Hein will return from his loan move in the summer to provide another option, but Mikel Arteta is clearly light on alternatives to Raya in the medium term.
Arsenal ideally wanted to sign Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia last summer, rather than bringing in Neto on loan from Bournemouth. A deal didn’t pan out at the time, but it seems they’re planning to target the same player again later this year.
James McNicholas reports for The Athletic that when Arsenal travelled to Spain to face Girona, they held talks with Garcia’s representatives. McNicholas adds that the Gunners intend to return for the goalkeeper later this year.
Arsenal made a €25m (£20.8m) bid for Garcia on deadline day last summer, with the club having initially been assured that they would be able to sign Garcia for significantly less than his €30m release clause.
Yet once talks opened, it quickly became clear that Espanyol would only sell for the full clause.
‘Release clauses’ in Spain are actually buy-out clauses, and they require the buying club to provide the entire fee upfront. So both the value of the transfer and the payment terms were ultimately beyond what Arsenal wanted to offer. The situation may be different this summer.
Garcia has made 22 appearances for struggling Espanyol this season. Whilst the stats show that he’s overperforming against his expected goals conceded, his team’s poor performances have left him in a relegation battle with just three clean sheets.
Espanyol’s relegation would likely make negotiations a little easier for Arsenal, but right now they’re two points clear of the bottom three.