Sporting Kansas City acquired Spanish midfielder Manu Garcia as a Designated Player from Greek side Aris Thessaloniki ahead of the 2025 season. Garcia arrived at Sporting having amassed 21 goals and 40 assists in nearly 300 professional matches, playing in the top divisions of England, France, Netherlands, Spain and Greece.
Garcia enjoyed an impressive first season with the club in 2025, tallying two goals and a team-high nine assists across 29 appearances in all competititons, resulting in Sporting KC Newcomer of the Year honors.
PROFESSIONAL
2025: Joined Sporting ahead of the 2025 season in a transfer from Aris Thessaloniki in the Greek Super League alongside teammate Shapi Suleymanov. Made 29 appearances, starting 24 matches in all competitions in his first season with the club. Scored two goals and added a team-high nine assists, all coming in the regular season. Garcia was named the team's Newcomer of the Year at the conclusion of the season. MLS Regular Season: Started 23 of 27 appearances, tallying a pair of goals to go along with nine assists. Recorded his first assist for the club on Dejan Joveljic's late equalizer in the 3-3 draw with Minnesota United (March 15) before assisting on Joveljic's game-winner in the 2-0 win over St. Louis (April 5). Tallied his first goal for the club to go along with two assists in the 5-3 victory over the San Jose Earthquakes (April 19). Got back on the scoresheet in the 3-3 draw with New England (May 24) before assisting Joveljic once again in the 3-1 loss to LAFC (June 8). Tallied another assist in the 4-2 loss to Dallas (June 14) before producing a brilliant pair of assists in second-half stoppage time to inspire a 2-1 comeback win over Charlotte FC (June 25). Assisted again in the 1-1 draw with Real Salt Lake (June 28) before seeing the latter stages of his season hampered by a quad injury. Concacaf Champions Cup: Appeared in both of the club's Round One matches against Inter Miami, logging 86 minutes. Made his debut for the club in the first leg at Children's Mercy Park on Feb. 19.
Aris Thessaloniki (2022-2024):
Garcia signed for Aris in Super League Greece on a club-record transfer fee in July 2022. He participated in his first European club competition during 2022-23 UEFA Europa Conference League qualifying and bagged his first professional hat-trick in a 3-0 home win over Volos on Jan. 21, 2023. Garcia guided Aris to its second consecutive fifth-place finish in 2023-24 and a run to the 2024 Greek Football Cup Final, where his side suffered a last-minute 1-0 loss to Panathinaikos.
Garcia enjoyed an excellent 2024-25 season at Aris prior to joining Sporting KC. He had a goal and an assist to spearhead a 2-1 victory over Greek juggernaut Olympiacos on Sept. 21 and scored a dramatic winner eight days later to secure a 1-0 away win at reigning league champion PAOK Salonika. The playmaker delivered another goal and assist to spark a 2-0 triumph against Kallithea on Oct. 20 and notched his fourth goal of the year at Panetolikos on Nov. 9.
Alaves (2021-2022):
Garcia went on loan to La Liga’s Alaves in 2021-22 where he made 26 appearances and tallied two assists across all competitions.
Sporting Gijon (2019-2021):
In July 2019, Garcia transferred from Man City to Sporting Gijon on a club-record transfer fee. He made 76 appearances for Gijon over the next two seasons, recording four goals and 11 assists.
Alaves/NAC Breda (2016-2018):
After re-signing for Man City, Garcia was loaned to two clubs for the 2016-17 season—newly promoted Spanish La Liga side Alaves and Dutch outfit NAC Breda. He played an instrumental role in NAC’s promotion to the top-flight Eredivisie—tallying two goals and nine assists in half a season—and continued his loan spell at the Dutch club for 2017-18, appearing in all 34 league matches.
Manchester City (2014-2016):
Garcia joined the academy of Manchester City as a 16-year-old in early 2014. He rose from the U-18 to the U-21 ranks before landing his first-team debut on Sept. 22, 2015, replacing Sergio Aguero in a League Cup victory at Sunderland. Garcia scored his first Man City goal the following month to seal another League Cup win over Crystal Palace, and received a winner’s medal months later as City were crowned tournament champions. He earned his English Premier League debut on March 5, 2016, replacing Yaya Toure in midfield.
YOUTH
Born in Oviedo, Spain, Garcia developed as a youth at Astur CF and Sporting Gijon prior to joining the academy of European powerhouse Manchester City as a 16-year-old in early 2014.
INTERNATIONAL
As a youth international, Garcia first represented Spain at the U-16 level in September 2013. He gained U-17 experience in 2015 and the following year scored for the Spain U-19s to cement a 2-0 win over a French team led by Kylian Mbappe. In March 2017, Garcia participated in the qualifying rounds of the 2017 UEFA Under-19 Championship.
Garcia had a leading role in Spain’s run to the 2021 UEFA Under-21 Championship semifinals. After playing four matches in the qualifying round from 2019 to 2020, he started in four of his five tournament appearances as Spain finished atop its group and claimed a 2-1 extra-time win over Croatia in the quarterfinals. After starting in a 1-0 semifinal loss to Portugal on June 3, Garcia received his first call to Spain’s senior national team and started in a 4-0 home triumph against Lithuania on June 8 in Leganes.
