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Barcelona holds elections on January 24 to determine the successor to Bartomeu, who resigned in October, and has been struggling with financial problems off the field.
But they still hope to strengthen the team next month, despite those battles, and Eric Garcia’s teammates at Manchester City believe he is heading to Barcelona.
Barcelona tried to sign Spain’s central defender during the summer transfer window only to have a deal collapse on the deadline day after they failed to meet City’s € 20 million (£ 18.3 million) price tag.
Pep Guardiola, the City manager, wanted to stay with Garcia, but the 19-year-old has his heart set on returning to Barcelona and hopes that an agreement can finally be reached between the clubs next month.
Garcia, who is out of contract at the end of the season, joined City from Barcelona in 2017.
Garcia’s determination to join Barcelona is widely accepted in the City dressing room and there is strong expectation that he will return to Spain, despite the club having a number of financial concerns.
Barcelona has been looking to download players to help facilitate a deal. Last month, Barcelona players agreed to pay cuts that would save the club 122 million euros.
They also agreed with their players to have around £ 45 million of variable payouts deferred over a three-year period.
Barcelona’s accounts for the 2019/20 season, published in October, revealed that the club’s net debt had more than doubled to 488 million euros as it felt the strong impact of the Covid-19 crisis.
Despite his desire to leave, City have had no problems with Garcia and Guardiola continued to select him until a recent injury.
The teenager was forced to retire after 28 minutes of a 3-0 Champions League victory over Marseille on December 9 and was ruled out for up to three weeks.
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