Defender Eric Garcia is currently on loan at Girona from Barcelona, and he has now explained why he found it difficult to succeed at the Camp Nou.
Garcia joined from Manchester City in 2021, but despite making 70 appearances, he often received criticism for his defensive performances.
He was loaned out to Girona late in the summer window following the arrivals of Joao Cancelo and Inigo Martinez, which meant that Jules Kounde, Ronald Araujo, Andreas Christensen and Martinez would all be ahead of him in the pecking order.
Garcia explains struggles
Speaking to Jijantes FC, the 22-year-old revealed that his transfer happened suddenly, and explained the differences in pressure between playing under Xavi and Girona manager Michel.
“My future at Barcelona changed in 24 hours. On Thursday I spoke to Xavi to stay and on Friday I went on loan to Girona. That’s the way the transfer market is,” he stated.
“I needed help at Barca [to cope with the pressure], as did my teammates. The emotions are very strong, from zero to a hundred in a second and situations get complicated a lot of times.
“I spoke to Míchel and I knew what he was going to ask of me. In the end, it’s a team that plays a similar style to Barca or City, and the adaptation is a bit easier.
“By playing less competitions, it allows you to train more. Playing at Girona brings a different pressure. You play fewer games and you have more time to analyse. I’m happy with how things are going.”
Does Garcia have a future at Barcelona?
He has made five appearances for Girona so far, and at 22, he still has a long future ahead as a centre-back.
For now, it feels unlikely that he will break into the Barcelona team as a regular, but he could follow the path of other youngsters by leaving with a buyback clause, or with Barcelona owning 50% of his rights.
Playing consistently in a side currently thriving, and in a team which plays a similar style to Barcelona will only help Garcia, but it is too early to judge whether his loan will help him improve enough should he return to the Camp Nou.