Both share a last name and a past at Manchester City. They now live in La Vinya, the Girona complex where Míchel's team trains. They take advantage of the proximity to the PGA Catalunya in Caldes de Malavella to learn to play golf. They have a very good relationship and enjoy the great football moment that Girona is experiencing. We are talking about Eric Garcia Martret (Martorell, 2001) and Aleix Garcia Serrano (Ulldecona, 1997), two essential pieces in Míchel's team, which has excited the world of football thanks to a choral idea that has been worked on since the arrival of the coach Madrid, three years ago.
When Eric Garcia asked Xavi Hernández in the last days of the Barça transfer market to go on loan to Girona for a year, he did it for a reason: “I had to take a step forward. Go out, enjoy and play,” explained the 22-year-old center back who saw his presence at Barça radically decrease last year.
Although Xavi didn't want him to leave, he understood. And the bet on Girona, a team that presents a style of play with which Martorell feels comfortable, could not have turned out better. His versatility and the injury to David López, one of the team's mainstays, have benefited him. In total he has played nine of the 12 possible League games and has even scored a goal. Before leaving Barça Eric Garcia wanted to close one last condition. He didn't want fear clauses in his transfer. So, if Míchel considers it, he will be able to play in Montjuïc on the weekend of December 10.
Before that you will most likely receive another call. That of coach Luis de la Fuente who, with Euro 2024 on the horizon, will announce on Friday those called up for the last two games of the qualifying phase. The name of Eric Garcia, who left Qatar with zero minutes and who later disappeared from the list, has already made it onto the shortlist. He won't be the only one. He will be accompanied by his friend Aleix. “They have never called him. He is very excited and so is the team. He deserves it”, point out voices from the Montilivi club. And the pivot has become Míchel's extension on the green. He is the only field player who has played everything. Although he is not captain due to seniority, he has a preferential voice and vote within the locker room. In the absence of captains Stuani, Juanpe and Bernardo and those of Borja García and Juan Carlos, who have not made their debut, he has worn the armband in five games.
Trained in the Villarreal youth ranks, Aleix Garcia arrived at Manchester City in 2015 in an operation that the then Villarreal coach, Marcelino García Toral, described as “a stick given his potential.” City loaned him to Girona in 2017 but under Pablo Machín he did not enjoy prominence. The situation improved with Eusebio Sacristán but relegation turned everything into a drama. He left and returned to Girona three seasons ago on a free transfer from FC Dinamo in Romania. It was the same summer that Míchel took the reins of the team. Now everyone is celebrating his possible arrival to the national team alongside Eric Garcia. Because just as with his choral play, any individual success belongs to everyone.
