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According to SPORT, Barça and Manchester City have resumed negotiations for Eric Garcia. In fact, in Barça, they believe to advance this week in the incorporation of the 19-year-old defender.
Eric Garcia has been one of the hottest properties in the transfer market this season. The Spanish defender, who came through the youth ranks of La Masia, later joined the English club Manchester City and since has been shining on the competitive stage. With necessary changes in action at the Camp Nou, the Catalan club is eager to bring him back home.
The Blaugranas first showed their interest in the defender in July, earlier this year and contacted the Manchester side to strike a deal. However, it was mutually decided by both the clubs to halt the talks until the Champions League campaign was over for both the clubs.
After Barcelona’s 8-2 loss against Bayern, followed by Lyon eliminating City in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Champions League, the negotiations for the Spanish center-back will resume this week. The deal won’t be an easy one, but the Barça entity believes that the English club must also do its part to reach a successful transfer because the Manchester club is also not interested in letting the player leave for free next summer.
The resignation of Éric Abidal does not change anything, since it is Ramón Planes who is personally handling the case of Eric Garcia. The Manchester club values Garcia at 23 million euros, an amount that Barça has no intention of paying considering that the player only has one year left on his contract.
According to the same report, a swap-deal including Eric Garcia and full-back Jao Cancelo coming to the Catalan club, with Semedo going the other way, is also on the table. If the deal would be a straight swap or a certain amount of cash will be included, is yet unknown.
In an interview on Barça TV+ on Tuesday, FC Barcelona president, Josep Maria Bartomeu cited Semedo as one of the non-transferable players on the squad, which per the same report, many believe as a strategy to revalue the Portuguese for the negotiations with the Manchester side.
