Aleix Garcia dismisses Barcelona rumours after Bayer Leverkusen switch

Aleix Garcia has spoken for the first time after making the move from Girona to Bayer Leverkusen.

Garcia opted to accept a move to the German champions on the back of a superb season in Catalonia.

The 26-year-old featured in 37 of Girona’s 38 La Liga games, with six assists, as they secured a first ever UEFA Champions League qualification.

However, despite reaching Europe’s premier competition, Girona knew they would face a battle to retain their key stars.

Garcia has already departed for Germany, and more could followed with top scorer Artem Dovbyk being tracked by Atletico Madrid.

Barcelona were rumoured to be challenging Bayer Leverkusen in the race for Garcia, but the midfielder has rejected those claims, adding that his first preference was to stay at Girona.

“Five minutes before saying I was leaving I was talking to the manager because my priority was to stay at Girona, but sometimes things don’t go the way you want”, as per quotes from RAC1, via Marca.

“I had calls from different teams, but I told my agent not to forget about Girona.

“Barcelona were interested, there were calls, but no official offer. I never spoke with Xavi, Girona was the priority.”

Garcia was not selected for Spain duty at Euro 2024 and he is expected to join up with his new team for preseason at the start of July.