Barcelona have proved Man City's 2020 transfer decision right

At the time, Eric Garcia's decision to turn down a new Manchester City contract seemed like a big deal, one that would come back to haunt the Blues.

Garcia, then 19, had broken into the first team at City and played in some big games as other defenders struggled with form and injuries. Coming from the academy, Garcia looked like he had a better chance than most to break into Pep Guardiola's senior team and stay there.

But Garcia wanted to play more, and also wanted to return to childhood club Barcelona - where he played before arriving at City. Guardiola shocked everyone when he calmly declared that Garcia had turned down a new contract in a press conference, forcing City into a decision over whether to sell him or allow him to leave on a free transfer.

City were open to selling Garcia but only at the right price, setting a £20m price tag for the youngster. Barcelona ummed and ahhed over a deal, eventually presenting an £18m offer to City late in the 2020 summer transfer window. City rejected it, deciding that even £2m less than their asking price was not worth selling, and Garcia left on a free the following summer.

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50 appearances later and Garcia's stance initially appeared justified. He was playing for Spain and Barcelona, and has a La Liga winner's medal to his name. It's hard to argue he would have got more game time back at City, even if he may have had a few more medals.

But with Barcelona's fortunes changing for the better (on the pitch at least), Garcia found himself down the pecking order again, and was shipped out to neighbours Girona on loan on deadline day last week. Some reports suggested Garcia had to leave to free