To be fair, even now they don't have leverage. I suppose in the end we'll sign him for 12-15 mil.
Right now they have the value of keeping Eric Garcia for one season as a 4th/5th option. He is a good defender, so if they value that option as 20m min then we don't have much we can do to reduce it.
Mid-season they could demand the same fee, but equally Eric Garcia can sign with any club and not just be reliant on a transfer being OK'd by City. He will only have half the time to wait aswell with this being a short/congested season.