Eric Garcia could be next to leave Barcelona with Real Betis circling

Real Betis and Barcelona have maintained great relations in recent years and have carried out some joint operations such as that of the full-back Emerson, now at Tottenham.

The arrival this summer of Ramón Planes as sporting director of Los Verdiblancos has strengthened the ties and it is likely that there will be more than one negotiation come to fruition in the coming weeks or days.

Betis have already advanced the transfer of Nico for the next season, pending the OK of the player's agent, Jorge Mendes, and Eric Garcia could join him, with the OK of Barça. 

The centre-back already knows that he will have few minutes at Barça next season and is seriously considering the Andalusian side's offer. There have already been talks and he will give an answer in a matter of days.

Garcia knows he needs to relaunch his career. He arrived at Barça on a free transfer after rejecting a renewal offer from Manchester City and became a regular under Ronald Koeman, something that earned him a starting place in Luis Enrique's Spain squad.

With Xavi, he has been losing prominence and it is logical that he will play much less next season with the arrival of Íñigo Martínez and the rise of some of the central defenders from the reserve team. And another year of ostracism would be difficult.

Betis have stumbled onto Garcia almost by chance. And Planes, who brought him to Barça, has not missed the opportunity, convinced that he will be a very important player for coach Manuel Pellegrini.

The operation is being discussed through a loan with an option to buy and, at the moment, everything depend son the decision of the player himself. And it is very possible that he will give the OK even before the Blaugrana tour in the United States. Nothing has been signed, far from it, but it looks good.

If Barça manage to move on Eric, they could solve the overbooking they had in defensive positions in just a few days. Umtiti has been released, Lenglet is already a step away from Tottenham and Eric would leave on loan.

Deco's idea is to have four centre-backs (Araujo, Koundé, Chistensen and Íñigo Martínez) two left-backs (Marcos Alonso and Balde) and a specialist right-back. Despite the continuous rumours about Cancelo, the chosen one is Iván Fresneda, from Valladolid.

Because of his age, his projection and because his salary will be adjusted to the maximum to avoid the salary limit. From there, the midfield and attacking positions will have to be closed. There is still a lot of time left.