Football
Sam Marsden, Barcelona correspondent 7y

Manchester City set to sign Barcelona youngster Eric Garcia - Pep Guardiola

Pep Guardiola has revealed that a deal is in place for 16-year-old defender Eric Garcia to swap Barcelona for Manchester City this summer.

City are currently prohibited from signing academy players for the next two years after they were found guilty of "tapping up" two schoolboys by the Premier League.

However, the ban only covers academy players who have been registered with a Premier League or EFL club, meaning they are free to move for Barca's Garcia.

"I have good reports about him," City boss Guardiola told TV3. "I haven't been lucky enough to see him play for myself yet, but people spoke very highly about him and we had the chance to sign him. He wanted to take this step in his career and we gave him the opportunity to do so."

Garcia will join City's academy and his departure has come as a shock to Barca, where he was tipped to have a bright future.

Marca reports that the Catalan club are not only upset to have lost Garcia, but are also disappointed in the role played by his agents, one of them being Barca legend Carles Puyol.

City will have to pay around €1.5 million in training compensation for the centre-back, who is a Spain under-17 international.

The loss of Garcia is the second blow Barca's academy have been dealt this summer following Jordi Mboula's move to Monaco last month.

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