Pep Guardiola is optimistic Manchester City can seduce Eric Garcia into extending his contract at the Etihad Stadium despite previously telling the club he wants to leave.
Spanish defender Garcia 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 Garcia was at before joining City in 2017, has been suggested as the most likely destination and Los Cules were linked with a move in the previous transfer window.
But Garcia was selected to start City s 3-1 Champions League win over Porto alongside Ruben Dias in the absence of Aymeric Laporte and Nathan Ake on Wednesday, with John Stones on the bench.
Guardiola explained his reasoning for starting Garcia and also expressed hope he may yet be convinced to stay in Manchester long term.
Job well done!
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— Manchester City (@ManCity)
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.
Garcia 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 per cent.
He had 116 touches of the ball in total, as well as contesting three duels and two aerial duels.
