Manchester City: Guardiola hopes Eric García can be persuaded to stay
Eric García told City in August that he wants to move on, but Pep Guardiola is hopeful that he may yet stay on at the Premier League club.
Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola is optimistic the club can "seduce" Eric García into extending his contract, despite the defender previously telling the club he wants to leave.
García linked with Barcelona return amid desire to move on
Spain international García made City aware back in August that he would not sign a new deal, with the 19-year-old's present contract expiring at the end of June 2021.
A return to Barcelona, whose academy García was at before joining City in 2017, has been suggested as the most likely destination and Los Culés were linked with a move in the previous transfer window.
But García was selected to start City's 3-1 Champions League win over Porto alongside Rúben Dias in the absence of Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake on Wednesday, with John Stones on the bench.
Guardiola hopeful Manchester City can change García's mind
Guardiola explained his reasoning for starting García and also expressed hope he may yet be convinced to stay in Manchester long term.
"I'm so happy. I know he wanted to leave but he's going to stay and maybe we can seduce him in this year to extend the contract with us," said Guardiola. "He's a guy who is so stable in many, many things and we are so happy."
García made five clearances, one interception and gained possession four times for City in their Group C triumph over Porto.
Only Dias (110) had more than his total of 108 passes, 101 of which were completed for a pass success rate of 93.5%.
He had 116 touches of the ball in total, as well as contesting three duels and two aerial duels.