Arsenal target Eric Garcia out of favour at Barcelona

Eric Garcia came back to the club which formed him, Barcelona, in the summer of 2021, to set himself in as a key piece in the defence, but his importance to the side has reduced, right up until the point where he has only played 60 minutes between the second half and extra-time of the Copa Del Rey game against Intercity after getting over his hip injury on the 4th November.

The 22 year old defender did not play a single minute in the league against Almeria, Osasuna, Espanyol and Atletico Madrid. He has had the same luck with Spain. Luis Enrique took him to Qatar, but he did not give him the chance to play at the World Cup, even though he played 72 minutes in the pre-tournament friendly against Jordan.

However, before having to be subsituted in the 42' minute away to Valencia due to his hip, he was an important player for Xavi, after starting 10 of the 15 games he was available for. Some of them were really important games, such as 'El Clasico' against Real Madrid and the games against Inter Milan in the Champions League.

It worked out quite well for him as fellow defenders Jules Kounde, Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo were injured at different times. But a few errors, such as his lack of convincing defending against Lautaro Martinez for Inter's second goal at the Camp Nou contributed to Xavi's lack of faith in the Martorell man.

Now, with his defensive competition back fully fit, he has been relegated to a secondary role. Christensen is performing higher than ever, flawlessly, and Araujo has returned from his long time out as if he was never out for three months: scoring goals and goal-line clearances. As for Kounde, he is a safe bet for centre and right back.

With this situation in mind, in England they are speculating over a possible move to Arsenal. Despite him not playing as much as before, according to 'Mundo Deportivo', Eric Garcia is not thinking about leaving even though Mikel Arteta is very interesed in having him in his side.