Barça reactivate interest in Eric Garcia for January transfer window

Barcelona's priority in January is to sign a defender before a forward. The club have been working on various loan options or free transfers, but in recent days Eric Garcia's name has emerged again.

The Manchester City centre-back has always been the No.1 target. Negotiations for him have had an unexpected turn and things are back on track for January as Barça work on reaching an agreement with the Premier League side. 

Garcia has been in talks with Barça since the beginning of the year. He confirmed his desire to return to the club and they began to work on closing a transfer with City. However, in the summer, that wasn't possible.

In the final days of the transfer market, the English club agreed to negotiate but couldn't agree a fee, despite the risk of Garcia leaving for free when his contract expires in the summer of 2021. 

Since then, City have tried to convince Garcia to renew, but he's set on a return to Camp Nou. He wants to succeed at Barça and is convinced that now's the time. The Spain international has made his intentions clear and City know they will lose him for nothing if they don't sell in January. 

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The agreement between Barça and the player is already in place and can be written down officially in January, when he moves into the final six months of his contract at City. Barça are also willing to pay a small amount to sign him and are looking into the best formula to do the deal. 

The Blaugrana would like to pay any fee as part of the next financial year, something City would accept and it's possible the English club also have a percentage of any future sale if he does move in January. The two clubs are in advanced negotiations. 

Barça don't want to get ahead of themselves but admit that talks are progressing well for the first time in months. For the club and for Koeman, there are no doubts that Eric Garcia is the priority next month after Gerard Pique's potentially season-ending injury. If talks break down, Barça would look at the loan market.