Last month, Aleix Garcia ended his time at Girona to join reigning Bundesliga champions, Bayer Leverkusen. The 27-year-old midfielder had been one of La Liga’s best players over the last two seasons, and because of this, it was hardly a surprise that Barcelona showed interest in securing his services.
During last season, there was plenty of speculation surrounding Garcia and Barcelona. However, it never came to fruition. As it turns out, the Catalan giants’ interest was not overly concrete, which the player himself revealed during an interview with Jijantes.
“There were calls between my agent and Deco, but there really wasn’t that much interest from Barcelona. When they want a player, they really go hard with their negotiations.”
Before the first La Liga meeting between Barcelona and Girona last season, Garcia came under fire from this then-employers after admitting that his dream was to wear the Blaugrana jersey. It’s something that he still wants to do at some stage of his career.
“I’m calm at Leverkusen, but Barcelona is still a dream (for the future).”
Garcia also spoke on interest he received from West Ham United earlier in the summer. The Premier League side were pushing to sign him, before he opted for Leverkusen instead.
“I had the option to go to West Ham, as was revealed in the press. They also caught my attention, and Lopetegui called me often. After achieving the Champions League qualification with Girona, it was a priority for me to play the Champions League, despite all the money that the Premier League can give you.”
