Joan Garcia
Joan Garcia
Aston Villa have been linked strongly with a move previously for goalkeeper Joan Garcia - and the Spaniard could be available on a season-long loan basis this summer, once his move to Barcelona has gone through.
Espanyol number one Garcia only really had a first-team breakthrough with his current employers this past season; he was an ever present in La Liga, as the club returned to the Spanish top flight after promotion from the second tier, and survived comfortably.
Stopper Garcia, 24, signed a new contract in the winter of 2023 which means he still has three years left to run on his existing deal, but he appears set to make the move across Catalonia to Barca, the La Liga and Copa del Rey champions.
“I am very calm,” Garcia told local press, when asked about his future, recently. “There is a lot of news coming out about me, but we’ve just finished the season and I want to rest a bit. From there, I will discuss my options with my people and decide what’s best for me.”
It's claimed, though, that Barca - who also have Marc-Andre ter Stegen and Wojciech Szczesny on their books - could loan Garcia out for a season, to the Premier League, if they can find a suitor who would be able to accommodate the keeper in their starting XI.
Villa face a little uncertainty in their own goalkeeping department; while Joe Gauci has returned from his loan and Robin Olsen has left permanently, heading back to boyhood club Malmo in his native Sweden upon the expiry of his contract,
The number one is currently away with his native Argentina for their World Cup qualifiers, and decided against committing his future publicly when asked by press ahead of those games: "My future? I don’t know, I come here to play for the national team, and that’s the only thing that matters to me right now.
"Do I want to move to a new club? The transfer window just opened, so there’s still a long way to go."
If Villa do find themselves requiring a new first choice goalkeeper, Garcia could yet be available.
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