The competition at FC Barcelona is unlike what any footballer may find elsewhere. Many talents have found this out the hard way, and have ended up losing out on important parts of their careers. However, others at Barcelona have looked at the challenge and faced it head-on.
One player who does not seem to be in the mood to give up is Eric Garcia. The Spanish defender, currently on loan at Girona, is still the property of Barcelona. After the end of this season, his future may be up in the air but his own intentions seem to remain clear enough.
As highlighted by SPORT, the 23-year-old revealed some interesting details in a recent interview. Speaking about his future beyond Girona, the Barcelona loanee was clear about his intentions:
“I have a contract, I have to return once the season ends. What is one hundred percent certain is that I am returning to Barça. Then, once I am there, I will see what happens.”
Moreover, even though there will be great competition at Barcelona, Garcia remains undeterred: “Competition makes everyone better, and last summer I personally needed to leave, to play every weekend, in order to enjoy playing day in and day out again.”
“Once I return to Barça, I know there are center-backs who are doing very well, but I am also doing well here. I know the football I have and I am showing who I am, no more no less.”
He also touched on the topic of Pau Cubarsi, who has been deemed as a revelation for Barcelona this season. The young defender, already the Under-23 La Liga player of the month, continues to turn heads.
Garcia also labeled him as a special talent, and also stated the precautions Barça must take with talents such as Cubarsi and even Lamine Yamal:
“He [ Cubarsi ] has been a surprise to everyone. I had already seen him because he had come up to train with us and you could see a kid with different things. He has shown it, performing at a very high level.”
He further added, however: “… with young people, you have to be patient. Like Lamine. What they are doing is crazy, but we have to be patient, they are doing so well that the day they don’t do so well, let’s not kill them.”
Reflecting upon his own career, the Barcelona loanee highlighted that football can be a bit cruel towards players when the entirety of the results are not going the ideal way:
“I wasn’t as young as them when I started playing, but in the end, the world of football ends up being about results. When things are going well and you win, it doesn’t matter if you play better or worse, but when things are not going well, they always try to focus on someone.”
Perhaps in that last sentence, Garcia speaks with a bit of bitterness about his own time at Barcelona. While the Spaniard himself was no perfect player, the entirety of the team struggled at the time. However, with the defensive roster Barcelona currently has, it is hard to argue that it is anything but an improvement.
