Barcelona transfer news: Hansi Flick addresses Eric Garcia future amid reports of £8m Girona move

Barcelona caput manager Hansi Flick has played down suggestions that Eric Garcia is adjacent to leaving the club.

The 23-year-old has recovered it hard to unafraid regular enactment this season, being restricted to conscionable 13 appearances, and determination has been beardown speculation linking him with a instrumentality to Girona pursuing a palmy indebtedness spell astatine the nine past term.

According to writer Nil Sola, Girona are looking to unafraid a €10m (£8m) woody for the Spaniard 'in the adjacent fewer days'.

However, Flick denied claims that an exit was adjacent erstwhile asked astir the defender during his property league to preview Saturday's Copa del Rey last-32 contention with Barbastro.

"I don't deliberation Eric Garcia volition permission successful the winter. For us, helium is ours and helium is simply a bully player," helium told reporters. "He is an intelligent subordinate that tin play successful antithetic positions. We are not reasoning astir his departure astatine the moment."

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Flick plays down Garcia exit rumours

Garcia represented Barcelona's academy betwixt 2008 and 2017 earlier ending his younker vocation astatine Manchester City, and helium went connected to correspond the English side's archetypal squad connected 35 occasions.

The defender returned to Barcelona successful 2021, and helium has made 83 appearances for the Catalan outfit, but helium spent the 2023-24 run connected indebtedness astatine Girona, featuring connected 32 occasions.

Garcia starred for the White and Reds, helping them decorativeness 3rd successful La Liga during a historical campaign, and it is understood that the team's caput manager Michel is pushing for a transportation this month.

As it stands, though, Garcia remains a Barcelona player, and helium could beryllium progressive successful Saturday's Copa del Rey clash with Barbastro, with Flick's broadside bidding to publication their spot successful the last-16 signifier of the competition.

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Will Szczesny marque Barcelona debut against Barbastro?

Wojciech Szczesny is pushing to mąke his Barcelona debut against Barbastro, but Flick said connected Friday that helium has not yet decided whether the experienced goalkeeper volition correspond the nine for the archetypal time.

"What I tin accidental is that Tek is grooming precise well, but the determination has not been made, we volition person to hold until tomorrow. We volition see," helium said.

Meanwhile, Andreas Christensen is not yet acceptable to feature, with the Denmark planetary successful the last stages of his betterment from a semipermanent Achilles problem; Lamine Yamal, Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Marc Bernal are besides presently connected the sidelines.

"For Andreas, helium is doing truly well, helium has developed a lot. He is besides grooming well, but it is inactive excessively aboriginal for the Barbastro match," said Flick.

"He volition spell with america to Saudi Arabia, but we volition spot what happens there. The program is that possibly aft Saudi Arabia helium volition beryllium acceptable to articulation the team, but we person to travel his improvement time by time and negociate him properly."

Barcelona entered the wintertime interruption successful Spain disconnected the backmost of successive league defeats to Leganes and Atletico Madrid, and they volition travel Saturday's Copa del Rey fixture with a clash against Athletic Bilbao successful the semi-finals of the Spanish Super Cup.

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