REPORTS: Tottenham leading the race ahead of Arsenal to sign EXCEPTIONAL Spanish Club goalkeeper in partial replacement or backup for Vicario.
Tottenham and Arsenal set to battle it out for Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia
According to Thursday’s edition of SPORT via Sports Witness, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal are set to battle it out for the signature of Espanyol shot-stopper Joan Garcia who played in La Liga 2 last season.
About a month ago, AS revealed Tottenham’s interest in Garcia. Gerard Romero then revealed Arsenal’s interest in the player. This set the world up for a North London battle to secure the 23-year-old’s signature.
Until a few months ago, not many had even heard about Garcia. He wasn’t even the starting goalkeeper for Espanyol. He had to wait until March to make his first appearance but he hasn’t looked back since.
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Tottenham and Arsenal have another name in the race for the player as well. Los Blancos hero Andriy Lunin could leave the club this summer in search of regular game time, now that Thibaut Courtois is back.
Regardless of which of the three clubs Joan Garcia picks as his next destination, he is likely to be the backup option on the bench. Spurs have Guglielmo Vicario, Arsenal have David Raya and Aaron Ramsdade (although you’d expect him to leave) and Madrid have the Belgian wall.
Stick or twist?
It’s up to Joan to pick his poison. He can choose to stick with Espanyol, especially considering they are back in La Liga and he will get plenty of regular opportunities or he could twist and join one of the three European giants.
At this stage of his career though, the wise decision would be to go with the option that provides regular game time. For him at the moment, it would be sticking with the Spanish club and helping them stay up in the league.
Tottenham might want to replace Fraser Forster with a better #2 but we already have Alfie Whiteman waiting in the wings. Spending €25m on a player who isn’t going to be a starter isn’t a luxury we can afford, especially when it comes to the goalkeeping department.
Despite interest from the North London clubs, expect this transfer to go nowhere as the player is likely to stay put in Spain. It doesn’t make sense for the club or the player and let’s hope Spurs steer clear of this signing.
