Arsenal remain the favourites to sign Joan Garcia this summer despite interest from Barcelona, according to a report from Spain.
Cadena SER report that Arsenal remain the favourites to sign Joan Garcia from Espanyol this summer.
Santi Ovalle claims the Gunners are in pole position for the signing, despite Barcelona making efforts in recent weeks to find out the player’s status and the conditions of his release clause.
Barcelona are reportedly only looking to make a move if there’s a market opportunity this summer, but this could be one.
Cadena SER also note that Garcia’s €30m release clause could change before the summer transfer window. If the goalkeeper makes his debut for the Spanish national team, it will go up by €5m. If Espanyol are relegated, it will go down, though it’s not clear by how much.
As it stands, Espanyol aren’t in the relegation zone, but they’re only two points above it. They could still be dragged back into the race if results go against them.
Espanyol expect to have to sell Garcia this summer, but the conditions of that sale could vary wildly. If the club are relegated, Arsenal would likely be minded to simply activate the release clause.
If they stay up and Garcia makes his Spain debut and Barcelona join the race, it may turn into a bidding war.
Arsenal made a €25m (£20.8m) bid for Garcia on deadline day last summer, with the club having initially been assured that they would be able to sign Garcia for significantly less than his €30m release clause.
Yet once talks opened, it quickly became clear that Espanyol would only sell for the full clause.
‘Release clauses’ in Spain are actually buy-out clauses, and they require the buying club to provide the entire fee upfront. So both the value of the transfer and the payment terms were ultimately beyond what Arsenal wanted to offer. The situation may be different this summer.
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