Arsenal ready to sign £12.6m star if they find buyer for 26yo, ‘good groundwork’ done – The Athletic | OneFootball

Arsenal have already done ‘good groundwork’ on Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia ahead of a possible summer approach, according to The Athletic.

The Gunners currently have David Raya as their first-choice goalkeeper. He was recently signed on a permanent deal from Brentford following his season-long loan.

Aaron Ramsdale has been the Spaniard’s deputy over the past year, but there is a possibility that the Englishman could join another club for regular playing time.

With this in mind, the Gunners and goalkeeping coach Inaki Cana have identified Garcia as a suitable profile to deputise for Raya in the forthcoming campaign.

Garcia previously had a £12.6 million release clause in his Espanyol contract, but that has now increased to £21m following the club’s promotion back to La Liga.

Despite this, Arsenal are optimistic of signing him for less than £12.6m, considering he has yet to establish himself as a regular starter at the Catalonian club.

As of now, Arsenal are not expected to make a move for Garcia until they find a buyer for Ramsdale.

Meanwhile, The Athletic claim that the London giants could return with a fresh offer for Wolverhampton Wanderers goalkeeper David Bentley in the coming days.

Arsenal have the plan of having Raya, Garcia and Bentley as their first-team goalkeepers next term with Karl Hein anticipated to leave on a season-long loan deal.

Garcia could replace Ramsdale this summer

Ramsdale was an undisputed starter under Arteta for two seasons where he became a favourite among the Arsenal fans. However, he lost his place last season after Raya’s arrival.

The manager suggested that he could be open to rotating his goalkeepers, but that was not the case. Raya was the first-choice for the Premier League and Champions League games.

Ramsdale did not express his frustration over the whole season, but the 26-year-old could explore a new challenge away from the Gunners after England’s Euro 2024 campaign.

Garcia has been identified as his potential replacement. In our view, he would be a quality signing.

The Spaniard had a decent passing accuracy of 69 percent last term, but he was very impressive with his shot-stopping.

Garcia started ahead of Fernando Pacheco in last season’s run-in. He had a brilliant save percentage of 83 from 14 outings.

Stats from Sofascore.com