Champions Leverkusen are working on their squad for next season. Midfield strategist Aleix Garcia is set to join the Werkself from FC Girona. The 26-year-old is highly interesting for various reasons
Last summer, Atletico Madrid expressed interest, but the transfer did not materialize. This winter, FC Barcelona reportedly have him on their list once again, but Aleix Garcia is also playing for FC Girona in the second half of the season. And now? Neither Atletico nor Barca are likely to be interested, and now double winners Leverkusen could snap up the 26-year-old midfielder. At any rate, there are many indications at the moment.
According to kicker, the Werkself reached an agreement with the Spaniard a few days ago, but talks with FC Girona had not yet been concluded. It is possible that the clubs are negotiating the payment modalities for the contractually fixed exit clause. According to reports, it was 20 million euros in the winter and around 15 million euros are being discussed for this summer. One thing is clear: Garcia will play in Bayer’s midfield in the future. He, who recently captained Girona 25 times, is of great interest to coach Xabi Alonso, manager Simon Rolfes and Co. for a variety of reasons
Garcia could step into the Xhaka role at Bayer
Firstly, their aim is to create even more squad depth on the double six and to acquire another top player for this area of the pitch alongside Granit Xhaka, Exequiel Palacios and Robert Andrich – after all, the changed Champions League mode means even more challenges for the Werkself. And first and foremost, a top alternative can only be helpful for Xhaka, Leverkusen’s frequent player and midfield boss.
Secondly, Garcia should be perfectly suited to this role in the control center. The technically outstanding and press-resistant Spaniard has shown how strong he is as a ball distributor and rhythm provider, especially this season. Garcia, who played the second-most passes in La Liga in 2023/24 and contributed the sixth-most shots on goal, can accelerate and shift, is capable of playing perfect through balls, has a strong right foot with which he can take set-pieces and look for the finish from play. In addition, with his height of 1.73 meters and his agility, he gets along well in small spaces and is also able to aggressively contest duels
Midfield strategist Garcia is considered a late starter
But that’s not all. Thirdly, the fact that the midfielder is available for around €15 million should be of great interest to the double winners – a fairly moderate price that was reportedly agreed last summer and before Garcia’s strong 2023/24 season as part of his latest contract extension. If the deal goes through, it would be Girona’s top sale.
Garcia, who used to play further forward in attacking midfield, usually pulled the strings as a strong right-sided midfielder for the Spanish surprise third-placed team. And was the only one to suffer a little in February and March, when the club lost touch with the league leaders. He is a late starter who moved around a lot and even ended up at Romania’s FC Dinamo Bucharest in the meantime, before his strong performances during his second stint at Girona recommended him for higher tasks. Garcia has now played one senior international match and is currently in Spain’s provisional European Championship squad. And should soon be playing under the Bayer cross
