Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia has had an impressive start to the season this year, and he was already attracting plenty of attention during the summer. Not least from Arsenal, whose goalkeeping department feel Garcia could be a top star.
The 23-year-old was part of the Spanish Olympic squad this summer that brought home the gold medal, but also beat out veteran Fernando Pacheco for the number one spot in Cornella. Espanyol were adamant that Arsenal would have to pay his €30m release clause to wrestle him from Catalonia though, something they were not willing to do.
In his place, they signed Bournemouth goalkeeper Neto on loan, meaning they have no urgent need to sign him. However MD have revealed an interesting detail, that his release clause returns to €25m until the final 15 days of any transfer window.
Should Arsenal or any other club come in for him, that will no doubt motivate them to come in earlier in any transfer window. Barcelona have reportedly identified him as a long-term option to replace Marc-Andre ter Stegen, amongst others, while Real Madrid were linked with him too, when Andriy Lunin looked as if he was on his way out of the door. Espanyol will be keen to hang onto him for as long as possible, and his deal runs until 2028.
