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Javi, we hardly knew ye.
The long rumoured move was confirmed today with the obligatory tweet from the player following soon after:
Добро пожаловать в "Зенит", @javigarcia06! Подробности: http://t.co/Pz87XOMIi9 pic.twitter.com/DI6duHRXLe
— ФК "Зенит" (@zenit_spb) August 14, 2014
The move of course was not a surprise but is another good piece of business for the club in getting a fee believed to be in the region of £12million for him. Added to the £10million or so for Jack Rodwell and it has been a successful week or so for the FFP budget.
After enduring a largely torrid first season at the club after arriving in that transfer window, Garcia was far more consistent in 2013/14 and performed more than capably towards the end of the season where he was a virtual ever present over the final two months.
The reality is though that Garcia is, and would remain, little more than a backup at City given the players in front of him and with the likes of Bruno Zucculini also brought in alongside Fernando to get such a fee for him (as it was with Rodwell) makes sense to move him on - something City have struggled to do over the past few seasons with many of the players brought in having such low re-sale value, largely as a result of the wages they commanded.
In all, Garcia appeared in 71 games for City in his two seasons, leaving with a Capital One Cup and Premier League winners medal.
