‘I’d rather go to Jupiter’… Joan Garcia’s former back-up goalkeeper at Espanyol talks about his transfer to Barcelona | OneFootball

This summer has been all about how well Barcelona can position themselves in the market. Due to their financial limitations, the club remains quite restricted in terms of movements within the market. However, Barcelona has been able to rely on good strategy to get by.

Early on in the summer transfer window, the big priority for the club was to secure a new goalkeeper signing. For that position, the market opportunity that was presented to them in the form of Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia was simply too good to pass up.

Despite belonging to a local rival of the Catalan giants, Garcia made the bold decision to join Barcelona this summer. Now, he is a full-fledged member of Hansi Flick’s first team, and he is expected to play a big role next season in terms of his importance within the team.

Joan Garcia’s former back-up goalkeeper speaks up

Photo Courtesy: The official website of RCD Espanyol

However, this signing was undeniably a big blow to Espanyol both in terms of a sporting loss but also as a loss of prestige. Even now, the club’s players and staff are constantly given a reminder of Garcia’s decision to join their local rivals.

Even Garcia’s former back-up goalkeeper at Espanyol, Angel Fortuno, was recently asked about the transfer. As quoted by Mundo Deportivo, the Espanyol goalkeeper revealed that the move came as a total surprise for him and others at the club:

“I didn’t know anything. I knew his level was high enough to go to another team, but I didn’t know where he was going. The move to Barça was never discussed and it caught us by surprise.”

However, when asked if he would ever consider joining Barcelona if the opportunity came his way, the Espanyol youth-team graduate made it clear enough that he would not entertain the thought:

Barcelona already working on other operations

The Jupiter that he is referring to here is not the planet, however, but a rather modest club that he used to play for in the early stages of his youth career. Unlike Garcia, it seems that the players and individuals at Espanyol continue to maintain their distaste and dislike of FC Barcelona.

As for the Catalan giants, they have far more important things to do than care about the sentiments of a rival club. In fact, the club now seems to have secured the signing of Manchester United Marcus Rashford as well, who looks set to join the club on a loan deal for next season.