After suffering a surprise loss to Lyon in their Champions League quarter-final, Manchester City were left to reflect on another ‘what might have been’ scenario.
Bayern Munich were waiting for the victors in the semi-final, and City were expected to march on past the French side who only finished seventh in Ligue 1 in 2019/20.
The future of centre-back, Eric Garcia, has been a thorny issue over the last few weeks with Barcelona showing a keen interest in taking him back to the club where he learned his trade before deciding to leave for the Etihad Stadium and an education under Pep Guardiola.
After City’s loss, the youngster was asked about what his plans were and he was quick to respond.
“I think that right now it is not necessary to talk about that,” he said after the game, cited by Mundo Deportivo.
“We have been eliminated in the Champions League and we have to reflect on it. It is true that we have lost a very nice opportunity but it is not the time to think about the future, we will see.”
It’s hardly the unequivocal ‘no’ to any prospective move which City fans would surely have been expecting, and it leaves his comments open to interpretation.
Given how poorly Barcelona’s defence played against Bayern on Friday night, there’s a cogent argument that Garcia would be able to slot straight in if they were able to prise him from the Citizens this summer.