Football News: Eric Garcia snubs Arsenal interest to stay at Barcelona

Despite Arsenal's adulation, Barcelona defender Eric Garcia apparently want to remain and compete for a spot at Camp Nou. The 22-year-old moved to Catalonia from Manchester City in 2021.

And he has since made 50 appearances for the La Liga's top teams, making one goal and one assist. Garcia played 36 times for La Blaugrana during his first season, but this term, because to fierce competition for center-back positions, he has had difficulty getting regular starts.

The Spaniard has made 14 appearances across all competitions, but hasn't been a regular in Xavi's starting XI due to the arrival of Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen to compete with Garcia and Ronald Araujo for playing time.

Garcia has started eight La Liga games this season in addition to two more in the Champions League. He has not been used as a replacement in his team's previous four games in the top tier.

The former Man City teenager is still bound to Camp Nou until 2026, but Arsenal reportedly have interest in bringing him back to the Premier League, according to Mundo Deportivo.

Garcia played 35 games for Man City before going back to Barcelona, working under Gunners manager Mikel Arteta while the latter served as Pep Guardiola's assistant.

But according to the source, neither Barcelona nor Garcia would consider selling him under any circumstances, and neither would Garcia choose to sign with the Gunners.

Additionally, considering that Barca is competing for victory in La Liga, the Europa League, the Copa del Rey, and the Spanish Super Cup this month, it is unlikely that Xavi will approve Garcia's sale.

Since William Saliba's return from Marseille, where he had been crowned the Ligue 1 Young Player of the Year for 2021-2022, on loan, the Arsenal tandem of Gabriel Magalhaes and Saliba have established themselves as a reliable center-back pairing.

While negotiations with Saliba on an extension are still going on, Gabriel has committed to a new contract at the Emirates Stadium till 2027. His current deal is set to expire in 18 months.

The 21-year-contract, old's which was originally set to expire this summer, recently received a 12-month extension from Arsenal, but negotiations for a long-term deal have not yet made any substantial progress.

For the Gunners, who prioritise attacking reinforcements above center-back additions this month, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Ben White, and Rob Holding can all play in the heart of the defence.

After losing out to Chelsea in the race to recruit Joao Felix on loan from Atletico Madrid, Arteta's team is working tirelessly to try to get Mykhaylo Mudryk from Shakhtar Donetsk.

However, Shakhtar are still standing by their €100 million (£88.5 million) asking price, and a another source suggested that Arsenal would try to sign Eden Hazard from Real Madrid as a replacement for the Ukrainian.

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