“You’re not getting out of here.” It was after training that Hansi Flick approached Eric García and warned him that he would not let him leave Barcelona. Cesc Fàbregas was looking for the defender to take him to Serie A, and both the player and Barça’s sporting management did not see a way out with difficulty. Eric was interested in playing; for the area that Deco heads, money. However, Flick closed his mind. Time proved that the German coach was right. Eric took on the difficult task of making Iñigo Martínez forgotten in the center of defense. He has, in any case, an even more difficult task: leading the locker room.
It turned out, however, that it was not the first time that Flick frustrated Eric García’s departure from Barcelona. In the summer of 2024, when the German coach was polishing his team, Girona came knocking on the defender’s door again. The offer was tempting for Eric, and not because of the sporting challenge, but because of the professional confidence that returning to Míchel’s orders represented.
When Eric García returned to Barcelona, Koeman was in charge on the bench at Camp Nou. The problem, at that moment, was not just the confusion that dominated the club, without a clear football direction until Flick’s arrival, but the fact that Eric had returned home without rhythm. In his last season at City he played just 12 games (858 minutes). And it wasn’t because Guardiola didn’t value it: it was the club’s decision. Eric decided to return to Barça for free, and in the Manchester offices it was decided that he would play little at the Etihad.
Guardiola mainly highlighted two of Eric’s virtues. The first, his obsession with the game. According to City’s technical committee, the defender had “many doubts” about improving his football, especially when playing the ball, always very close to Lillo (at the time, Pep’s assistant), with whom he still maintains contact. The second characteristic that Pep admired was his ability to attract his teammates: “You will see how in a few years he will be captain of Barça. I told Koeman: he is a precious and very intelligent person. He really wants to learn, he absorbs everything.”
Eric’s desire to learn was heightened under Guardiola but, on the other hand, it was eroded first under Koeman and then under Xavi. “They take him out of his position and don’t give him guidance”, complained, at the time, of those around him. Without confidence, he accepted Míchel and Girona’s proposal. And Montilivi went from risk to opportunity, to then consolidate himself as a success: Eric García played 32 league games – he only missed two at the start of the season and another four due to injury – in a Girona team that surprised Spain by qualifying for the Champions League.
Eric then regained his confidence on the field, also in the locker room. And, once again at home, what had developed in all the lower categories of Barça’s youth system began to emerge in Barça’s first team: the ability to command. “He is a leader and we have to work to value this characteristic of him”, they highlight from the sports area. Deco, in fact, is already working on contract renewal.
Continuity, according to sources in the sports field, was achieved on grass. They (neither Deco nor Flick) don’t even take into account the season’s defensive problems. “It’s a problem of pressure, which is not well applied”, they argue in Sant Joan Despí. “We need more of those above”, they add in the background. “I like players to have a good mentality in these situations”, warned Flick, in anticipation of the duel between Bruges and Barcelona (21:00, M+).
He did not, however, want to publicly praise Eric: “Last season the great leader was Iñigo, now I am very happy with Eric, Cuba and Ronald”. Yes, he does this in private. Also Deco in the sports area. Barça is looking for a leader for the defense and Eric raises his hand, to cover Cubarsí as a left defender, but also to partner with Lamine as a right back. And if necessary, play on the left wing and even as a pivot.