From surprise team to the champions of Germany: Birthday boy Garcia in profile

"We wrote history," said Aleix Garcia looking back. The new Leverkusen player led Girona as captain, making 37 appearances, to a completely surprising third-place finish in La Liga last season and thereby securing qualification for the Champions League. The midfield maestro scored three goals and provided six assists last term.

Bayer 04 sporting managing director Simon Rolfes praised the right footer, who has so far won two full international caps for his country, for his "outstanding strategic ability." Garcia is also "an extremely accurate passer of the ball and shows great vision as a number six. Aleix has leadership qualities that will be very valuable to us in the coming years."

Guardiola, Belgium, Romania: a circuitous career

Garcia was born and grew up in the south-east of Catalonia between Barcelona and Valencia and he started his playing career in his home town for CF Ulldecona. From there he moved on to Villarreal at a tender age in 2005 and he progressed through all the youth teams. At the age of 16, he made his debut for the Villarreal team in the third division and a year later played for the senior team in La Liga for the first time.

When he was 19, Garcia joined Manchester City – with the prospect of playing for the first team under Pep Guardiola. In his first season in England, he played in the U21 Premier League and the UEFA Youth League – with the French World Cup winner and European champion Patrick Vieira as his coach. He made one appearance for the first team in the FA Cup. Guardiola played his fellow countrymen Garcia six times in the following season in 2016/17 and that included his debut in the Premier League.

In 2017 Garcia went out on loan to Girona for two seasons and he clocked up 50 appearances in La Liga over two years. In 2019/20 he again went out on loan to Royal Excel Mouscron in the south of Belgium under the German coach Bernd Hollerbach and in October 2020 he signed the Dynamo Bucharest on a free transfer. Three months later he returned to his home country Spain when he joined SD Eibar. He finally returned to Girona in 2021/22. In his first season after returning, the team from the north-east of Spain were promoted to the top-flight under new coach Míchel. Garcia played a big part in that success with 38 appearances in 42 league games.

Debut for Spain, Qualification for the chAmpions league

The following year saw the newly promoted club with Garcia and Co. finish tenth in another successful campaign – and that was topped again in 2023/24. Girona were in the top four in La Liga from matchday two to the end of the season only losing to Real Madrid in the first half of the season and they were even in top spot several weeks. They were unable to secure the title but qualification for the Champions League is without doubt an historic success for Girona. It is the first time the club has been in Europe and that starting straight off in the premier club competition. That means he could face his former club with Bayer 04.

Garcia started 36 out of 38 league games mostly as captain. He came off the bench once and he missed one game through suspension. His best season to date not only led Garcia to sign for the German double winners but also saw him make his debut for Spain. Garcia’s first international appearance was in a 3-1 win against Cyprus in the Euro qualifiers and that was followed by a friendly against Andorra (5-0).

Grimaldo recommends Bayer 04 to Garcia

Garcia meets up with several fellow countrymen at Leverkusen in Fernando Carro (CEO) and head coach Xabi Alonso as well as Alejandro Grimaldo. What did the latter say to Garcia about Bayer 04 before the contract was signed? – "Only positive things!"

¡Bienvenido, Aleix! ¡Feliz cumpleaños! – Welcome, Aleix! Many happy returns!