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Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia decides on next club amid strong interest from Newcastle United

Newcastle United are looking to replace, or at least give Nick Pope someone to battle with for the starting spot between the sticks.

Nick Pope has said he wants to stay at Newcastle despite the club clearly searching for another goalkeeper.

James Trafford is said to be Newcastle's number one choice, as reported by most outlets, while others have hinted that Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia was in fact the number one priority.

We tend to believe that Trafford is Eddie Howe's top pick, and the Joan Garcia story always felt like it was agent/media driven to force Barcelona into action.

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El portero del espanyol joan garcia durante un partido de liga efe siu wu

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Joan Garcia fancied a move to Barcelona after all

Joan Garcia looks set for Barcelona

If our suspicions were indeed correct, then it has worked, as National World are reporting that Barcelona are set to sign the 24-year-old Spanish stopper.

Garcia had a €25 million (£21 million) release clause, which made him an attractive prospect for sure.

Reports had often suggested that Garcia wasn't keen on a switch to Barcelona and preferred a move to the Premier League, which, again, just felt like the media taunting Barca to make a move.

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Where's the bid for James Trafford?

If the latest reports are true and Garcia is likely to be Barcelona-bound, then we expect Newcastle will step up their pursuit of James Trafford.

It also begs the question, why haven't we actually signed Trafford yet? We came close a year ago, we know he's keen, we've had reports saying that the details were all practically agreed upon, and yet here we are, having not even had a single bid reported four days into the window being open.

What are we waiting for? If Trafford is such a high priority, and given all of the work that has already gone in, then surely it should be a relatively easy deal to do. Yes, Burnley are likely to put their asking price up from £20 million after their promotion and the huge part Trafford played in that, but just get on with it.

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