Barcelona defender Eric Garcia
The past few months have been difficult for Barcelona defender Eric Garcia. The 21-year-old youngster has gradually seen his importance fade with the club as well as the Spanish national team.
And, according to Mundo Deportivo, Garcia is keen to prove himself on the biggest stages again and regain the lost prominence in the coming weeks.
The 21-year-old arrived at Barcelona in the summer of 2021 on a free transfer. He played in 26 of Barcelona’s 38 matches in La Liga (68.4%) in his debut season at the club, of which 23 were from the start.
However, so far this term, Garcia has played just nine times out of the 15 La Liga encounters (60%), starting in eight.
The last time he started a match was on October 29, in Barça’s 1-0 win over Valencia, during which he was taken off injured in the first half. While he was back in the squad for the subsequent league matches against Almeria and Osasuna, he was an unused substitute.
Following that, Garcia left for the FIFA World Cup 2022 with Spain. Having played three matches at the UEFA Euro 2020, including the semi-finals, one expected the defender to play some part in Qatar as well.
However, Luis Enrique did not hand Garcia a single minute of football at the World Cup, instead preferring Rodri as a makeshift centre-back.
[Source: barcauniversal.com]