Barcelona furious with club legend Carles Puyol as starlet he represents prepares to join Manchester City
Eric Garcia, one of La Masia's hottest young prospects, is walking away from Barcelona and the club are angry with their former captain for the role he has played
Your support helps us to tell the story
This election is still a dead heat, according to most polls. In a fight with such wafer-thin margins, we need reporters on the ground talking to the people Trump and Harris are courting. Your support allows us to keep sending journalists to the story.
The Independent is trusted by 27 million Americans from across the entire political spectrum every month. Unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock you out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. But quality journalism must still be paid for.
Help us keep bring these critical stories to light. Your support makes all the difference.
Barcelona are furious with legendary former club captain Carles Puyol after a player he represents, Eric Garcia, decided to walk away from the club to join Manchester City.
Garcia, a 16-year-old central defender who was considered one of La Masia's best young talents, has been seduced by a three-year deal on offer in England and will join City's youth team based at the Etihad Campus. Puyol has set up an agency with former Espanyol and Spain midfielder Ivan de la Peña, and this would be the latest player they have sprung from Barcelona after Marc Bartra joined Borussia Dortmund.
It represents another blow for Barca, for whom it has proven very costly to lose their academy's best young players. Cesc Fabregas walked away from La Masia in 2003 for free only to be bought back for €35m eight years later. Hector Bellerín took the same path as Fabregas, joining Arsenal, and Barcelona's sporting director Robert Fernandez is currently trying to negotiate a €45m deal for him to return to Catalunya.
The Nou Camp club have been unable to stop the talent drain, with a number of players deciding the pipeline from youth academy to first-team football had dried up in recent years. Mauro Icardi has been a revelation in Serie A, where he finished as top scorer at 22. Balde Keita, now of Lazio, is considering €40m offers this summer. Alex Grimaldo went to Benfica and will, in time, be sold for more than ten times the nominal fee Barcelona received when he left the club.
Only last week, it was the promising teenaged winger Jordi Mboula who continued the trend, joining Monaco for just €3m and, shortly, Eric Garcia's move to Manchester will be confirmed.
Puyol's decision to work against the best interests of the club that many insiders believed he would one day return to has not gone down well inside the Nou Camp, The Independent understands, and even moreso with another of La Masia's best prospects - and another Puyol client - Carles Aleña being linked with Tottenham this week.
While there is more confidence that Aleña might sign a new Barcelona contract, preventing the exit of another starlet, there is concern from some at the club over the poor first-team recruitment that is costing Barca not only money in pure financial terms, but also in talented young players leaving the club through frustration.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments