Eric Garcia believes he has been vindicated in his decision to leave Barcelona after being handed his Manchester City debut at Leicester.
The 17-year-old defender started the Carabao Cup tie and played for the entirety of the 1-1 draw. City went through to the semi-finals of the competition after winning a penalty shootout.
Garcia has had a swift rise through the ranks at City after joining in summer 2017. He decided to leave Barcelona, the club he had been with since he was seven, in favour of a switch to England.
It caused anger around the Nou Camp, as Garcia was considered one of the jewels of the La Masia academy system.
But the Spaniard is convinced it was the right call. 'I’m really proud of my decision,' he said.
'It’s difficult because you leave your friends, your family and your old team-mates, but at the end I need to think about my career and I’m really happy for this.'
Garcia was handed the opportunity after impressing in pre-season and recovering from a two month spell on the sidelines.
After revealing he had only been told about his involvement on Monday, he admitted he had been surprised: 'First I wasn’t expecting even to be in the squad then Pep told me I was starting, so I was really happy.
'I wasn’t expecting this because last week I played my first full 90 minutes [post injury] against Hoffenheim so I was focused on the Youth Cup.
'The 18s play tomorrow against Clevedon, and then I received the call to train with the first team, and it was incredible.'