Anderlecht Targets Santi Garcia as Saliba Replacement
Anderlecht did not wait long to react to the loss of Nathan Saliba. With the midfielder off to Villarreal, the Belgian club have turned their gaze to Portugal and to one of the Primeira Liga’s quiet success stories: Santi Garcia of Gil Vicente.
According to HLN, Anderlecht are exploring a move for the 24-year-old, who has rapidly become one of Gil Vicente’s key assets. The Portuguese club initially set the bar high, seeking a fee in excess of €10m. That stance has softened slightly, but the ambition remains the same: they want Garcia to become the most expensive outgoing transfer in the club’s history.
That tells you how highly they rate him.
Garcia’s path has not been the straight-line rise of a prodigy. Formed in Spain and schooled at Getafe, he tasted only the briefest glimpse of top-flight football there, making just one first-team appearance. In 2024, with opportunities limited, he walked away from Spanish football and joined Gil Vicente on a free transfer.
It proved a turning point.
Dropped into the Portuguese league with little fanfare, Garcia quickly established himself as a regular. In his first season, he played 30 games, scoring four goals and supplying two assists. Solid numbers, but more importantly, he showed he could handle the tempo, the physical duels, the responsibility.
Last season, he did more than just cope. He broke out.
Garcia stepped up with six goals and three assists in 34 matches, a return that underlined his growing influence in the final third. Those figures, combined with his age and upward curve, explain why a club like Anderlecht — rebuilding and reshaping after a key departure — see him as an ideal fit.
For Gil Vicente, the equation is simple but delicate. They picked him up for nothing. Now they stand on the brink of a record sale. Lowering the asking price slightly may be the compromise needed to close a deal, but they are determined not to undersell a player who has become the symbol of their recruitment success.
For Anderlecht, the question is just as clear. Having lost Saliba, do they push hard now for Garcia and pay close to that €10m mark, or risk watching another rising midfielder slip through their fingers?
