Manchester City Chooses To Keep Two Goalkeepers Instead Of Recruiting Joan Garcia From Espanyol

JAKARTA - Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola said goalkeeper Ederson and Stefan Ortega will defend and shrink interest in Joan Garcia who performed outstandingly at Espanyol.

Ederson received an offer to move to the Saudi Arabian Pro League last year. There is a feeling that interest could return this summer when he entered the last 12 months of his contract.

Ortega's reserve goalkeeper will also expire in 2026, but Guardiola seems happy to continue working with the two until next season.

"We have talked about the situation regarding the squad's planning. The two goalkeepers we have will continue to defend," Guardiola said at a golf event in Catalonia on Monday, June 2, 2025, local time.

Meanwhile, Garcia, along with Diogo Costa of FC Porto, is one of the players Manchester City monitors if they really need to recruit other goalkeepers.

The Espanyol goalkeeper is considered high and has a release clause of 25 million euros. ESPN revealed last week that Barcelona was also interested in the 24-year-old.

"Joan Garcia is a very good goalkeeper, but Manchester City is associated with 500 players in each transfer window."

"He's an Espanyol player and I don't know what happened. However, I was told by Espanyol's people (who played in the golf event) that he was an amazing goalkeeper. The references we have are very good," said Guardiola.

The Citizens' exit from the race to recruit Garcia could pave the way for Barcelona.

However, the goalkeeper said he kept all his options and would not leave Espanyol for city rivals.

Apart from the Blaugrana, Newcastle United, Aston Villa, and Bournemouth are among other Premier League teams rumored to be interested in Garcia.

Barcelona cannot underestimate the competition with Premier League clubs. However, they really need the goalkeeper.

Last season, the Blaugrana was reinforced by three goalkeepers, namely Wojciech Szczesny, Marc-Andre ter Stegen, and Inaki Pena.

Pena will listen to an offer to leave this summer while looking for a place to play in the first team.

Meanwhile, Szcz totalsny, who returned from retirement when Ter Stegen was injured in September 2024, has been offered to extend his stay at Camp Nou.

Then, Ter Stegen, who has a contract until 2028, said that he did not plan to leave even though the club was interested in Garcia.

"Rumor didn't worry me because I knew I would be in Barcelona next season," he said from Germany's National Team training camp ahead of this week's UEFA Nations League final.