"Joining Barcelona was the step I had to take"

Goalkeeper Joan Garcia has assured that signing for Barcelona "was the step he had to take" in his career, although he admitted that he has lived through "intense days" while making the decision to leave Espanyol to sign for the Catalan team. 

"I knew it was the step I had to take, but considering where I came from (Espanyol) it was complicated. I had a bit strange feelings, but I am super-convinced and very happy to have made this decision," said the Catalan goalkeeper in an interview broadcast on Thursday by Barça One, the official television of the Catalan club.

Garcia, who last week signed a six-year contract after the azulgrana entity paid the termination clause plus CPI of 26.34 million euros to Espanyol, has defended the decision to play in "one of the best projects there is in the world of football." 

"Besides, I'm at home," added the 24-year-old goalkeeper from Sallent, who stressed that the squad coached by Hansi Flick "is in the race for everything, both for the team it has and for the structure that has been formed".

The player trained in the youth categories of Espanyol has recognized that he was "very eager" to join a project like Barca, although the decision has not been easy.

"Until the end of the season, when we were fighting to achieve the goal of salvation, I didn't want to destabilize myself too much and I wanted to be quite focused. After that, it has been intense weeks and days. I have consulted a lot with myself, with my people and my family, but I was convinced that it was the step I had to take and I'm glad I took it," he added.

Now, Joan Garcia is only thinking about starting to train with his new team and adapting to a style of football that, as he acknowledged, "is very different" to what he is used to. 

In this sense, he has indicated that he is "very eager" to face a challenge in which he will have competition, since at the moment the first team has two other goalkeepers -Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Inaki Pena- and plans to renew the Polish Wojciech Szczesny. 

"The problem is for the coach, but I really want to contribute as much as I can and keep playing," he said.