Eric Garcia's name was on everyone's lips in January 2021. The then-Manchester City player was strongly linked with reinforcing the defense of a Barcelona side in crisis. The club was immersed in an election process, and candidate Víctor Font proposed an agreement with City to sign the center-back for €3 million. Joan Laporta, who would ultimately win the election, believed it was better to wait until the end of the season, as Eric's contract would then expire. Carles Tusquets, president of the interim board, wasn't convinced the deal would go through without consensus among the candidates. The back-and-forth ended when Ronald Koeman put his foot down: the coach demanded a quick decision, arguing that the debate was pointless and destabilizing the squad. So, there was no movement that winter, and in the summer, a free leap year, Eric arrived in Barcelona.

Starter in the first three league matches, Eric Garcia seems to have earned a place in Hansi Flick's starting eleven.The Martorell-born defender, who can play both as a center back and as a full-back, has outplayed Jules Kounde in the first two matchdays, while at Rayo Vallecano he formed a center-back partnership with Andreas Christensen. His versatility also led the German coach to try him as a pivot in his first matches at Barça. "He's a very intelligent kid with the best judgment for distributing his play from the back," Marcel Sans, who had him in the U14 B team, where he played alongside Arnau Tenas, Take Kubo, Ansu Fati, and Nico González, told ARA.

It's easy for a stadium security guard with little interest in football to block your way so you're mistaken for an intruder. The vast majority of modern footballers not only are, but also look like one: a buff gait, more square inches of tattooed skin than virgin skin, Popeye muscles, a look that feels like they're being watched, flow A rapper with a criminal record and an outfit designed under the influence of hallucinogens. Our protagonist doesn't fit any of these characteristics. He could appear on the Panini sticker album for the 96-97 La Liga alongside Pedro José de la Extremadura.

To understand Eric Garcia's redemption at Hansi Flick's Barça, we need to go back to the summer. More specifically, to the Olympic Games, where he teamed up with Pau Cubarsí and the national team took home gold. This prevented the two players from doing pre-season training under the German coach. The competition held in Paris ended on August 9. Barça began the League at Mestalla on the 17th of the same month.

In parallel to the end of this season, which could still end with two titles in the bag, Barça is working intensely on what is to come when the summer starts. The new azulgrana director of football, Mateu Alemany, and the technical secretary, Ramon Planes, have multiple folders to address in terms of the preparation of the template. Of Leo Messi, who finishes his contract on 30 June, they only know that the arrival of Joan Laporta in the box is a good starting point to think about his continuity, but beyond the doubt with the Argentinian, there are other issues that they need to move forward. One of them has to do with Eric Garcia, a fruit of La Masia who emigrated to Manchester City as a teenager and is now one step away from returning home. With his 20th birthday in January and a privileged career under Pep Guardiola, the centre-back from Martorell has been sounding for some time now as a strategic reinforcement to fill the void that Gerard Piqué will sooner or later leave in the centre of defence. In fact, his leap to the elite is quite reminiscent of that of the Barcelona man.