Carlos García Eyeing New Managerial Adventure With Ajax
From Israel to China, from Ecuador to Italy, from Albania to the United States, Carlos García Badías has traversed just about every corner of the world across his first decade of football management. And today, he’s building a new legacy in the Netherlands with one of the most iconic clubs on the planet: AFC Ajax.
Humble Beginnings in Barcelona
Born on April 29, 1984, Carlos García grew up on the outskirts of the Camp Nou and was fully immersed in the beauty of football from an early age, trying out for the two biggest clubs in his hometown of Barcelona but being rejected by both. Nevertheless, after impressing for a local academy and eventually parlaying that into minutes for the Catalan regional side as well as the youth national team, García was able to rekindle the interests of both FC Barcelona and RCD Espanyol.
He decided to join Espanyol, joining the Periquitos’ youth ranks in 1999 and being immediately thrown into the U-19 team despite being a U-16 player. García skyrocketed through the youth ranks both at the club and international level, with his first big break coming in the 2001 UEFA European Under-16 Championship in England.
Playing alongside future legends like Fernando Torres and Andrés Iniesta, García captained his team to their first-ever championship before featuring in two matches for Spain at the 2001 FIFA U-17 World Championship in Trinidad & Tobago. Two years later, García played nearly every single minute in the 2003 FIFA World Youth Championship, which saw Spain lose 1-0 to Brazil in the final in the United Arab Emirates.
García finally broke into the Espanyol first team on October 5, 2003, playing the full 90 against a Real Madrid side featuring the likes of Zinedine Zidane, David Beckham, and Ronaldo, who scored a brace in a 2-1 win. After playing the entirety of their 4-0 defeat to eventual champions Valencia the following week, García would make just one more appearance for Espanyol before deciding to leave Catalunya for the first time in his life and start a new journey in Andalusía, dropping from the top-flight to the second tier and playing 17 times for Almería-based Polideportivo Ejido.
Instead of heading back to his boyhood club, García decided to call it quits on his Espanyol journey. After leading Spain to its maiden gold medal at the 2005 Mediterranean Games in Almería, García opted to stay and move to UD Almería on a permanent deal.
“After debuting with the first team, I went out on loan to the Segunda, where I was an international with the Spanish under-21 national team. We finished the year and played a tournament similar to the Olympic Games called the Mediterranean Games, with all the countries that have a coast on the Mediterranean, and we became champions with Spain,” stated García in an exclusive RATINGS interview.
“That summer, I had to go back to Espanyol, where there were quite a few good defenders. I had the option of going on loan to a first-division team, but Espanyol told me that the only way I could leave was to go to Almería. In Almería, there was a coach, Paco Flores, who had been Espanyol’s coach for a long time, and they were the only club willing to pay a transfer fee.”
“Espanyol wanted a permanent transfer, they didn’t want me to go out on loan anywhere, and Almería offered me a good project and a three-year contract that made a lot of sense financially, and I made the decision to leave. We always think that if we had done something else, things would have turned out better, but maybe they would have turned out worse, right? You never know in life, but it’s one of those things that you always have in the back of your head. We always think that if we had done something else, it would have worked out better, but it also could’ve worked out worse. You never know.
The only thing I’ve thought so far is the closer you are to having the option to play in top-level teams, the better, because getting back to that level is difficult, isn’t it? When you’re in a certain division, even if you’re just playing, people can pigeonhole you into that division, as Serie B in Italy, or USL in the USA, and the same thing happens in Spain…I think that playing fewer matches in LaLiga could have a greater repercussion than playing many more in the second.”
Making the Move to Israel
García immediately established himself as an indispensable figure in central defense, spearheading them to their maiden promotion to the Spanish top-flight in 2007 under now-Aston Villa manager Unai Emery, playing one season in LaLiga before being deemed surplus to requirements by manager Hugo Sánchez. He decided to head across Andalusía and join second-tier Real Betis for the 2009/10 season, where he made 33 appearances for the Verdiblancos. It proved to be one step backwards and two steps forward for García, who established himself as an ever-present in defense for Almería.
Going up against a plethora of icons like Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi, García delivered a strong individual account and waved the flag high for Almería in both the league and the cup, spearheading them to the 2010/11 Copa del Rey semifinals, but he was unable to keep them afloat in the top-flight.
He stuck around for one season in the Segunda before deciding to call it quits on his Almería adventure after 208 appearances. But rather than stick around in his homeland, he decided to test his skills abroad and head across the Mediterranean, making the move to Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv F.C. García teamed up with Eitan Tibi in the middle of defense, with the two forming the bedrock of a side that won their first national championship in a decade.
At 29, García made his debut in European competition, featuring in all four of their UEFA Champions League qualifiers as well as all seven appearances in the UEFA Europa League matches, with García’s side being knocked out by Basel in both competitions. After helping them claim a domestic treble and a third-straight Israeli Premier League title, García finally got his chance to play in the main Champions League draw, playing the full 90 vs. Porto (twice), Chelsea, and Dynamo Kyiv in 2015/16.
“These are the decisions that you have to make. I was 28 at that time, and I had a two-year-old daughter and my wife. The options that I had in Spain were a bit like what I’d already experienced: continue with strong second-division teams that will try to get promoted to the first division, or some possibility of a small first-division team. But it was something I had already experienced, which was my limit in Spain…I couldn’t access anything further.
By chance, Jordi Cruyff, who had been my teammate at Espanyol during the year that I was in the first team, ended up becoming Maccabi Tel Aviv’s Sporting Director. Apart from it being a good financial offer, I was going to have the opportunity to compete in European competitions, which in Spain was very difficult to achieve, to reach a club where I could play in the Europa League or the Champions League. Aside from that, it’s about going to a big team where you can fight for local titles, even if it’s in a smaller league compared to the Spanish one.”
“I was fortunate enough to play in the Europa League: we made it to the group stage, and after advancing, we were in a group with German side Eintracht Frankfurt, French side Girondins de Bordeaux, and Cypriot side APOEL Nicosia. We finished second, we managed to beat Girondins home and away, we won at home against Eintracht Frankfurt, and then Basel knocked us out in the next round. Two years later, we managed to qualify for the Champions League in the group with Chelsea, Dynamo Kyiv, and Porto.
In the end, it was a dream come true, because everything I had thought about the goal of going to Israel was fulfilled. We became champions, winning the league for three years in a row, and honestly, I really enjoyed it. I had a special connection with the fans, a very passionate and temperamental fanbase that really supported the team. I was very, very, very happy there, to be honest, those were four years where I was really happy.”
Building his Coaching Legacy
After a brief spell with Turkish outfit Alanyaspor, García decided to hang up his boots at 33 years of age and return to Maccabi as assistant to his compatriot Jordi Cruyff, with the duo then heading west and starting a new adventure at the Chinese Super League with Chongqing Dangdai Lifan F.C. García looked set for a brand-new chapter in South America after Cruyff was appointed head coach of the Ecuador national team in January 2020 on a three-year contract. But the Dutchman would last just six months before resigning without managing a single match or training session due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the two decided to return to China, taking the reins at Shenzhen FC.
Desperate to escape Cruyff’s shadow and make his own name as a first-team manager, García decided to take charge of Beitar Tel Aviv Bat Yam FC in January 2022. However, he would last just 17 matches in the Israeli second tier before opting to return to assistant duties, polishing his skills with Serie A outfit Udinese Calcio and MLS side Chicago Fire – one of the rare instances where he was accompanied by his wife and two daughters (12 and 15), who live in Barcelona. He then stepped back into the spotlight and took charge of Albanian side Flamurtari FC, recently returned to the Albanian Kategoria Superiore. However, García would last just six matches before departing via mutual accord in October 2025. It didn’t take long for him to find a new gig, pairing up with compatriot Óscar García – who had coached him at Maccabi – and becoming the new assistant coach of Ajax’s U-21 side. Just under a month later, García took charge of the first team on a caretaker basis on March 8, with his namesake joining him as the assistant coach.
“The initial feeling is that it’s a very big club with excellent facilities and very good players, with a strong sense of belonging to the club. People feel like they’re part of Ajax; people want to play for Ajax’s first team, and that’s very, very, very important. And the truth is that I am delighted with everything; it has exceeded my expectations. I’m signing here with Jordi Cruyff as sporting director, who knew me and believed, and who still believes that I can help develop these players. There is a lot of raw talent in their youth football ranks who are capable of reaching the first team and helping them achieve their goals. I’m very, very, very happy.”
After a heartbreaking late-season collapse that saw them miss out on the league title to PSV Eindhoven, Ajax currently sit fifth in the Eredivisie table, level on 44 points with Twente, two points behind NEC Nijmegen, five behind Feyenoord, and 24 behind PSV. The Amsterdam giants have won just one of their last seven matches in all competitions, having lost their most recent one 3-1 at Groningen.
They are now onto their third head coach of the season after a dismal start that saw them lose 6-0 at AZ in the Round of 16 of the KNVB Cup and finish 32nd in the 36-team Champions League table. While they will finish the season trophyless for a fourth consecutive year, they nevertheless have eight finals remaining as they look to sneak into the top three and qualify for the Champions League. Now, can the García pairing put an end to Ajax’s woeful run of form and get their tenure rolling with a victory against Sparta Rotterdam?