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Eric Garcia 'snubs Arsenal interest to stay at Barcelona'

By Ben Knapton, Senior Reporter | 11 January 2023

Barcelona defender Eric Garcia is reportedly on the radar of Arsenal, but the 22-year-old has no interest in leaving the Catalan giants for the Gunners.

Barcelona defender Eric Garcia reportedly intends to stay and fight for his place at Camp Nou, despite admiration from Arsenal.

The 22-year-old left Manchester City in 2021 to make the move to Catalonia, and he has since racked up a half-century of appearances for the La Liga giants, scoring once and providing one assist.

Garcia made 36 appearances for La Blaugrana during his debut campaign, but he has found regular starts hard to come by this term amid intense competition for centre-back spots.

With Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen both arriving to challenge Garcia and Ronald Araujo for game time, the Spaniard has made 14 appearances in all tournaments but has not been a regular in Xavi's first XI.

Garcia has started eight games in La Liga this term, as well as a further two in the Champions League, and he has been an unused substitute in his side's last four top-flight outings.

FC Barcelona coach Xavi reacts on January 8, 2023 © Reuters

The ex-Man City youngster remains under contract at Camp Nou until 2026, but according to Mundo Deportivo, Arsenal hold an interest in bringing him back to the Premier League.

Garcia worked under the wing of Gunners manager Mikel Arteta during the latter's time as Pep Guardiola's assistant, playing 35 games for Man City before returning to Barcelona.

However, the report states that Barcelona are not considering selling Garcia under any circumstances, and the player himself would also turn down the chance to join the Gunners.

Furthermore, Xavi is not expected to sanction Garcia's sale this month, as Barca fight for success in La Liga, the Europa League, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup.

Arsenal duo Gabriel Magalhaes and William Saliba have formed a solid centre-back pairing since the latter's loan return from Marseille, where he was named the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year for 2021-22.

William Saliba in action for Arsenal in September 2022 © Reuters

Gabriel has committed himself to a new deal at the Emirates Stadium until 2027, while talks are ongoing with Saliba over an extension, with his current deal due to expire in 18 months' time.

Arsenal recently activated a 12-month extension in the 21-year-old's contract, which was originally due to expire this summer, but there is yet to be a significant breakthrough in talks over a long-term agreement.

Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White and Rob Holding can also play in the heart of the defence for the Gunners, who are prioritising attacking reinforcements over centre-back signings this month.

Arteta's side are fighting tooth and nail to try to sign Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk, having lost out to Chelsea in the race to sign Atletico Madrid's Joao Felix on loan.

However, Shakhtar are still refusing to budge on their €100m (£88.5m) asking price, and a separate report claimed that Arsenal could try to swoop for Real Madrid's Eden Hazard as an alternative to the Ukrainian.