Eric Garcia trains on top

BarcelonaThe VIP area of the Ushuaïa nightclub, in Ibiza, becomes a catwalk of well-known faces during the summer months. It was a regular destination for Leo Messi, Luis Suárez, and the cream of the Barça squad a few years ago, and today it continues to be frequented by Blaugrana footballers looking to decompress. The latest to be seen there in an evening session were Dani Olmo, Joan Garcia, and Eric Garcia. Due to their age and common interests, this trio has bonded in recent months and spends a lot of time together both on and off the football field. All three (and also Pedri, Gavi, Lamine Yamal, Ferran Torres, and Pau Cubarsí) have convention holidays until August 12, when more than three weeks will have passed since their World Cup triumph against Leo Messi's Argentina. However, Eric Garcia, according to confirmations from his circle, will advance his return slightly.

That the Martorell center-back is content with three weeks of disconnection has to do with his low physical wear during the World Cup. Luis de la Fuente called him up after his great season with Barça, but did not use him with the same frequency as Hansi Flick at Barça. The Spanish coach was very clear that the center-back pairing for la roja had to be Cubarsí and Aymeric Laporte, and he maintained this until the Basque player needed a change in extra time of the final. Only at that point did Eric have the opportunity to debut. Those 20 minutes, poorly counted, were the only ones he had in the entire championship. Nothing to do with the levels of prominence achieved at his club, where he completed the 2025-26 campaign with 51 appearances – in various positions – and one goal. Partly for this reason, he believes he is now in a position to return to Barcelona this weekend and start next season under Flick. If there are no more premature returns, the rest of the World Cup players (the Spanish ones, Anthony Gordon and Jules Kounde) will return to work next Wednesday.

One of the dressing room leaders

Another reason that leads Eric Garcia to train (as they say) is that he has all the chances of being chosen as one of the five captains of the Barça squad. Advancing his return by a few days shows his commitment to the project, which will be ratified before the market closes with the official distribution of numbers and the mythical photo of the captains of the incoming season. With Marc-André ter Stegen's departure already confirmed, there is one vacancy left and the Catalan defender is the favorite to fill it more for a matter of seniority than mere antigüedad. The other candidates to be part of the group of captains are Gavi and Ferran Torres. The Andalusian midfielder will complete his sixth season in the first team of the blaugrana (Eric will complete his fifth), while the Valencian, with an uncertain future due to contractual issues, is also entering his sixth season.

The fact that the one from Martorell will wear the captain's armband with the senyera will reward his progress as a footballer and will put an end to two seasons without the presence of footballers trained at La Masia in the list of captains. The last one to earn this right was Sergi Roberto, who inherited this condition after the departure of Javier Mascherano and became first captain after Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba left Camp Nou. The player from Reus only enjoyed the first captaincy for one season (23-24). Now Eric Garcia, a Barça player since the pre-benjamin school and captain in all categories, is in a position to repeat leadership in the first team. When the internal vote confirms it, he will be the fifth man behind Ronald Araujo – first captain since this season –, Frenkie de Jong, Raphinha Dias and Pedri.