'I could not miss this opportunity' – Arsenal summer transfer target admits relief at failed Gunners move after achieving career goal at current club

An Arsenal summer target has suggested he made the right decision by not joining Mikel Arteta's side this season.

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• Arsenal tried to sign Spaniard
• Ended up staying at Espanyol
• Says he 'couldn't miss this opportunity'

• Table of Contents

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Arsenal reportedly bid €20 million (£17m/$22m) for Espanyol goalkeeper Joan Garcia this summer but the La Liga team valued him at €30m (£25m/$33m). Now, the 23-year-old has opened up on staying with his current side, saying he "could not miss this opportunity" after cementing his place in goal.

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  WHAT JOAN GARCIA SAID

  He told Marca on Thursday: "I tried to isolate myself from everything that was being talked about. I had been given the opportunity for what I had been fighting for a long time, which was to be Espanyol’s starting goalkeeper. And I could not miss this opportunity."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Ultimately, Garcia would have been a backup option to Arsenal's first-choice stopper, David Raya. The former Spain under-21 player only made his first-team breakthrough towards the tail end of last season and if he continues to perform well, the 6ft 3in man is likely to get plenty more opportunities to become a bigger team's number one option – rather than a deputy.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Arsenal, who ended up selling second-choice keeper Aaron Ramsdale to Southampton and bringing in Bournemouth's Neto on loan to compete with Raya, may yet try and swoop for Garcia again in 2025, however.