Arsenal target Joan Garcia is likely to be on the move this summer, but the Gunners face competition from Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen.
Estadio Deportivo reported last week that Espanyol know they’ll have to sell Arsenal target Joan Garcia in the near future. The club acknowledge that if they get an offer close to Garcia’s release clause this summer, they’ll have to let the goalkeeper leave.
Arsenal bid for Garcia last summer, then held further talks with the player’s agent in January, so they’re very much expected to make another move for the goalkeeper at the end of the season.
But Ryan Taylor reports for the Mirror that Arsenal face competition from Barcelona and Bayer Leverkusen.
According to Taylor, Barcelona and Leverkusen have also made contact with Garcia’s representatives to express their interest.
Barcelona would be able to afford the move, despite their financial struggles, but their rivalry with Espanyol may prove problematic. As for Leverkusen, manager Xabi Alonso is keen to find a long-term replacement for Lukas Hradecky, whose deal expires in 2026.
Mirror sources claim Garcia is confident he’ll make himself first choice at whichever club he joins within a month.
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.