Barcelona remain keen to sign Eric Garcia and Georginio Wijnaldum, but Ronald Koeman has admitted that neither move will happen during the current transfer window.
Although Koeman is desperate for reinforcements at Barcelona, who currently trail La Liga leaders Atletico Madrid by 10 points, he acknowledges that the coronavirus pandemic has drastically cut their transfer budget.
As a result, according to the Mirror, the club are unwilling to pay fees for long-term targets Garcia and Wijnaldum, who will both be out of contract this summer.
Garcia was born in Barcelona and schooled at the famous La Masia academy until 2017, when he elected to move to Manchester City.
The 20-year-old centre-back has made 30 appearances for City in all competitions and has represented Spain on four occasions.
Back in August, Pep Guardiola confirmed that Garcia had rejected a contract extension despite his increased involvement in the first team.
He has played infrequently since then, ahead of a proposed return to Barcelona in the summer. Koeman was keen to bring that forward but doesn’t have the funds at his disposal to do so.
“We have concluded that if he is a player whose contract is ending, we must wait,” said Koeman. “If we moved now, we would have to pay the transfer fee plus the player's salary.”
The same situation also affects Wijnaldum, whose contract talks with Liverpool have stalled in recent months.
The industrious midfielder was one of the stars of Koeman’s revitalised Netherlands side and is eager to link up with his former manager once more.
There has long been a strong Dutch influence at Barcelona, with Koeman one of the leading figures in Johan Cruyff’s famous ‘dream team’, who won four consecutive La Liga titles and the 1992 Champions League.
