Hansi Flick reveals decision on future of key Barcelona defender

Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick has confirmed the club will not sanction the departure of Eric Garcia before the transfer deadline.

Garcia, who returned to Barca from Manchester City in 2021, has been heavily linked with a move to Girona having enjoyed a fine 2023/24 season down the road at the Catalan minnows.

In the meantime, Barcelona have sniffed around for defensive reinforcements, with Bayer Leverkusen's Jonathan Tah the standout name on their shortlist in recent days.

But Flick has revealed that Garcia will be staying put for at least the first half of the 2024/25 season.

"Eric Garcia stays at Barca and the story is closed," Flick definitively said at a press conference on Friday.

While reinforcements at centre-back have been looked at, Barcelona looked towards a defensive midfielder in the last week of the window after promising midfielder Marc Bernal suffered an ACL injury. There are also concerns over the fitness of Frenkie de Jong, while Barca failed in an attempt to take Stefan Bajcetic on loan from Liverpool.

Flick was asked how Barcelona will plug that gap, and floated the idea of using Garcia in midfield.

"We have two options, I will leave you with these options: Marc Casado, and also Eric can play this position. He's more a defender but also played here in matches when he came in, also in training and he did really good."

Barcelona return to La Liga action on Saturday at home to Real Valladolid.

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