The natural successor to Iñigo Martínez may not be so far away.

BarcelonaStarter 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.

The absence of Iñigo Martínez opens the door for Eric Garcia to fight for a place in the starting eleven in his most natural position, center back.Without a pure left-footed player in the squad, the Martorell native's ability to carry the ball out from the back could play to his advantage, as he already occupied a similar role in the youth system. "In youth, he often played as a left-footed center-back and his game was very good. He adapted quite well, although it's obviously better for him to play on the right," analyzes Sans, who adds that he will perform wherever Flick sees fit. The Cubarsí-Eric pairing, which won Olympic gold in Paris with the Martorell native on the right, could be replicated at Barça. "The advantage of playing with two center-backs trained in the youth system is the ease of decision-making with the ball at their feet. This makes it very difficult for the opponent because they don't know who to attack or who to close down, since you can move out from both sides."

A natural leadership

Trained at Barça's academy, he remained at La Masia until 2017, the year he decided to leave for Manchester City. His experience abroad helped him grow both as a footballer and as a person under the guidance of Pep Guardiola. "When you go to a new country, you encounter situations that are outside your comfort zone, a different language and environment that test you," says Sans, who has been in Japan for almost five years as Dani Poyatos' assistant coach. The former Barça manager also values his time at Guardiola's City. After his adventure in England, he returned to Barça as a free agent (summer 2021) in a team where both Ronald Koeman and Xavi Hernández gave him a leading role in the defensive core. However, a lack of playing time in the 2022-2023 season forced him to seek a way out in the form of a loan to Girona, where he regained his confidence and developed under Míchel, who also tried him at right-back.

Despite doubts about a possible new departure, the arrival of Flick and Christensen's injury kept him at Barça, where he perfectly fulfills the role of substitute. He also demonstrated his goalscoring side with important goals in the Champions League semi-finals against Inter Milan and in the Clásico played at Montjuïc that practically sealed the La Liga title. A skill, scoring from set pieces, that he had already demonstrated at La Masia.

If there was one thing Eric Garcia stood out for in his formative years, it was his ability to lead. "Pre-season was coming to an end and we had to decide the captains through voting. In the U14 B team, the U12 A and U12 B players were put together. Of the six players who had been captains, four were chosen. The year Eric was there, there was no voting, his teammates would just say that he didn't say it, and he said it himself. Mar would end up in the first team in a few years. The center back from Martorell is the definition of what it means to be a good captain: a consistent player, who makes an effort, who is a good teammate and far from the eccentricities of so-called modern football. Perhaps The natural successor to Iñigo Martínez is not so far away.