Arsenal’s hopes of signing Joan Garcia from Espanyol have seemingly received a boost, with Barcelona journalists reporting that he won’t be moving to the other Catalonia club.
Arsenal certainly appear to be in the mix for the signing of Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia this summer.
The Gunners will need a goalkeeper, with Neto returning to Bournemouth at the end of his loan spell, and Garcia is a player they’ve tried to sign before. Given his impressive season with Espanyol, there’s no reason to believe their interest will have faded.
Barcelona have been touted as a potential rival for the signing, but David Ibanez tells Onze that Garcia “won’t be joining Barcelona” this summer.
Perhaps that move was always a bit of a long shot, given the historic rivalry between the two Barcelona-based clubs. Any player moving from Espanyol to their local rivals is unlikely to remain popular with his old side.
But with Garcia proving one of the best goalkeepers in Spain this season, it was no shock to see all the top La Liga sides linked with him.
Simon Jones recently reported for the Daily Mail that Arsenal had stepped up their attempts to sign the goalkeeper, holding further talks recently.
A fee hasn’t been agreed yet, in part likely because Garcia’s release clause may drop if Espanyol are relegated.
It doesn’t seem particularly likely Espanyol will go down as it stands, but they aren’t mathematically safe yet.
Arsenal made a €25m (£20.8m) bid for Garcia last summer, but Espanyol rejected the approach, holding to his release clause. The Gunners signed Neto on loan instead, but it looks like they’ll be back for the goalkeeper this summer.