Barcelona contact agents of Espanyol star as Arsenal and Bayern Munich stay in the hunt | OneFootball

It is not every day that Barcelona find themselves linked to an Espanyol player over a potential transfer.

As local rivals, the Catalan duo have often refused to offer each other any favours and the heat is clear whenever they take to the field.

For an Espanyol player to be linked to Barcelona, thus, speaks volumes of the quality he possesses and Joan Garcia is the young name who has managed to make the unthinkable possible.

Barcelona’s long-term bet

Marc-Andre Ter Stegen’s injury earlier this season left the team looking for a new goalkeeper to fill in the German’s shoes.

While Inaki Pena initially did well to stay in Hansi Flick’s plans, Wojciech Szczesny eventually overtook him and is now the number one choice.

Heading into next season, it appears both Ter Stegen and Szczesny will stay while Pena’s future is cloudy given the betrayal he feels for being dropped.

Joan Garcia is wanted by Barcelona. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

As relayed by Ryan Taylor in the Mirror, however, Barcelona are alert to the market for a new young goalkeeping prospect as Espanyol’s Joan Garcia tops the list.

The 23-year-old, after all, has been stellar for the Catalan side this season and has attracted interest from far and wide.

The report elaborates that Joan Laporta and Co. have already made contact with Garcia’s camp and have informed his agents of their interest in a potential transfer.

Arsenal and Bayer Leverkusen are also interested and will offer strong competition. In fact, last summer, Arsenal made two offers to sign the player but had both rejected as they were below his release clause of €30 million.

This June, however, he is expected to be available for the same fee or possibly even a lower amount.

Garcia has started all 25 of Espanyol’s La Liga games so far this season and averages 3.7 saves per game with close to 75% save percentage. The fact that he has seen only four clean sheets reflects more on the defence supporting him than his quality.