With just over a week left until deadline day, Barcelona are accelerating departures for players in the squad they consider dispensable as they look to register new signing Dani Olmo and any other new transfers they make.
Ilkay Gundogan is on the verge of being announced as a Manchester City player with the free transfer practically done. Vitor Roque is closing in on a loan move to Real Betis which will see him stay with the Spanish club until 2026.
Barcelona are trying to force the situation and urge Atletico Madrid to complete their deal for Clement Lenglet as soon as possible. It looks like the departures are not done yet with more players on the chopping block.
As per SPORT, Barcelona have informed center-backs Andreas Christensen and Eric Garcia that one of the two might have to leave the club before the deadline. The club want to bring in a new left winger and right back and to do so, they need to make departures happen.
Christensen has widespread interest from the Premier League with Newcastle United, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United all keen on signing the ex-Chelsea defender. Barcelona will be letting the Dane go for around €25m despite Hansi Flick counting on him.
Eric Garcia’s case is different. He doesn’t have interest in him like Christensen does and will not get Barcelona a high transfer fee despite being one of La Liga’s best central defenders last season. The La Masia graduate is keen to succeed with the club but if he decides to leave, Girona will be an option.
Barcelona have Pau Cubarsi, Inigo Martinez and Ronald Araujo along with these two and should the club let go of one of them and sign a right-back, Jules Kounde would return to his favored center-back position.
Between these two, the likelier option to leave on a transfer will be Christensen. He will fetch a club a decent transfer fee. Eric showed last season that he can be one of the best defenders in the league and should be rewarded with a chance this season. Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see how this particular situation pans out in the coming days.
