Barcelona are poised to make an opening £14 million offer to Manchester City for central defender Eric Garcia, according to reports.
The 19-year-old has been identified as a top transfer target for the Spanish giants after reportedly turning down a contract extension offer City.
Garcia has just little over a year left on his current deal at the Etihad Stadium and the Catalan outfit are hoping to convince him to move to Spain.
Pep Guardiola in his press conference ahead of the Champions League clash with Real Madrid confirmed the defender had turned down an offer from the club and wants to play elsewhere.
And Barca are now looking to step up their efforts to poach the Spain Under-21 centre-back from the Premier League side this summer.
However, the La Liga side will only make an approach for the player after their Champions League last-16 tie second leg with Napoli on Saturday.
The Citizens have set the valuation of the teenager to be around £32 million but are also willing to allow the defender to see out the remaining 12 months on his current deal at the club unless they receive a suitable offer for him.
Garcia left La Masia, Barcelona’s youth ranks three years ago to join City and has had a run of games in the latter part of the 2019/20 season. He started eight games in the English top flight while also making a further five appearances from the bench.
Embed from Getty ImagesThe 19-year-old had been reported to be considering his future at the Etihad Stadium, with his reason being the fact that Guadiola, who has just one year left on his contract with the club is yet to commit his future to the former Premier League champions.
Garcia is seen as a long term replacement for Gerrard Pique at the Camp Nou, but losing the player now would mean that Man City would have to dig into the transfer market once again despite recently signing Nathan Ake.
