Sporting Gijon midfielder Manu Garcia will cost Manchester City £10m if they decide to bring him back to the Etihad in the next two years. A number of eyebrows were raised when Pep Guardiola allowed the talented Spaniard, who came through the club’s youth ranks after initially joining from Sporting, to leave on a permanent basis during the summer.
The 21-year-old made just one Premier League appearance for the Citizens and was desperate to go in search of regular first-team football, much like his former academy team-mate Jadon Sancho, who quit for Borussia Dortmund two years ago and is now one of the hottest prospects in world football.
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Spanish second division club Gijon have big plans for the future and showed their ambition by making Garcia their record buy at £3.5m – with a further £1.75m based on promotion to La Liga’s top tier. That extra windfall doesn’t seem likely this season, with Sporting sitting just out of the relegation spots and with just two league wins to their name at present.
Garcia, though, has impressed enough and was called up by Spain’s under-21 squad this week for the fixtures against Germany and Montenegro, having also impressed on loan last season with French side Toulouse.
Senior City insiders have stated the club will continue to monitor their former starlet’s progress and have pointed to the resigning of Spanish right-back Angelino, who returned this summer to the Etihad from PSV Eindhoven after impressing.
It’s understood the Premier League champions have agreed to pay Gijon £10m if they do want the player back, but that figure only remains active for the next two years. Sporting Gijon’s football director Miguel Torrecilla hinted to the Spanish media earlier this week: “I don’t want to go into numbers, but we would be talking about one of the best deals in the history of Sporting.”
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