Espanyol head coach Manolo Gonzalez has dropped a major hint over the future of Arsenal transfer target Joan Garcia.
The 23-year-old has enjoyed another reputation enhancing season in La Liga and is now considered to be one of Europe’s best young goalkeepers.
Arsenal made an attempt to sign Garcia last summer but were unwilling to pay his £23.4 million release clause.
Instead, the Gunners chose to sign the experience Neto on loan from Bournemouth, but the Brazilian has hardly featured and there is little chance he will sign a permanent deal.
David Raya remains Arsenal’s undisputed No.1 but with youngsters Jack Porter and Tommy Setford not yet ready for a promotion, Mikel Arteta is likely to be keen on signing an experienced back-up, capable of providing competition this summer.
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Espanyol are unlikely to stand in Garcia’s way should he be keen to seek a fresh challenge and Gonzalez admits there are no guarantees he will remain beyond the end of the season.
‘I can’t guarantee that he’ll stay at Espanyol next season,’ he said. ‘You’re all seeing the level he’s at, which is what it is.’
Predicting who Arsenal will sign this summer
Goalkeeper: With Neto’s loan move unlikely to be turned into a permanent deal, Arsenal will undoubtedly look to sign a new No.2 to provide David Raya with more competition than he has faced this season. Teenagers Jack Porter and Tommy Setford are highly regarded but are not yet ready for a major promotion which goes some way to explaining Mikel Arteta’s interest in Espanyol’s Joan Garcia.
Defenders: Arsenal fans won’t want to hear it, but with Kieran Tierney, Oleksandr Zinchenko and Jakub Kiwior all likely to depart, a new left-sided defender will be a requirement, especially given the fitness travails of Takehiro Tomiyasu and Riccardo Calafiori.
Midfield: Nearly two years on from Granit Xhaka’s departure, Arsenal’s engine room still lacks the sort of balance they had in abundance when the Switzerland international was paired alongside Thomas Partey. Arsenal spent £160 million on Declan Rice and Kai Havertz but the experiment of deploying the former Chelsea man in midfield was ditched long ago. Arteta still appears to believe Rice can thrive in a more advanced role and the arrival of Martin Zubimendi, whose move to north London appears to be a matter of when, rather than if, could finally complete the puzzle.
Forwards: Attacking reinforcements have been in short supply over the last couple of years and an overreliance on Bukayo Saka yielded the sort of injury many feared had been in the post for a while. A new winger, ideally one comfortable on both flanks, should represent a priority. Nico Williams is a long-term target while at centre forward Victor Gyokeres appears the most attainable and ready made solution to the No.9 conundrum that has existed throughout Arteta’s reign.
James Goldman | Metro Sports Editor
Garcia has previously confirmed he believes a summer move would be in the interest of all parties and has now said if he leaves Espanyol he will do it in ‘the best way’.
‘At the moment I’m not thinking about that [future], but you never know. If it happens, let it happen in the best way,’ he told Estadio Deportivo.
‘If in the end it turns out that I have to leave, how can I not say goodbye well? Espanyol are the club that has given me everything. If I go through the back door, it wouldn’t go well.’
Garcia appeared to be trying to put pressure on Espanyol to sell towards the end of the January transfer window by insisting it would be ‘good for everyone’ if he left.
He told Mundo Deportivo: ‘I am a very cold person in every sense and I think that this attitude helps me. I am very calm at Espanyol, with an opportunity that I have been waiting for a long time.
‘It will be for the good of everyone [if I leave]. Mine and the club, which is the one that has made me grow. It can’t be any other way.’