By Senior Contributor Tom Sanderson
FC Barcelona center back Ronald Araujo has made a decision on whether to stay at the club according … More to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
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FC Barcelona center back Ronald Araujo has made a decision on whether to stay at the club according to SPORT, which cited anonymous sources.
The Uruguayan is getting ready to start his first preseason campaign under Hansi Flick. This time last year, when the German had not long since taken over the reins from fired club legend Xavi Hernandez.
This was because Araujo picked up an injury in his country鈥檚 Copa America quarterfinal win over Raphinha鈥檚 Brazil, which required him to have surgery and not make his debut under Flick until January 25.
Around the time, Araujo was heavily linked with a move to Juventus, with some reports claiming that he had already told his teammates he would be off to the Old Lady.
In the end, however, Araujo stayed put and signed a contract extension – though that came with a key caveat.
Put simply, Araujo – like many other key first team stars such as Lamine Yamal, Pedri and Gavi – usually has a release clause exceeding $1 billion. In the first 15 days of July, however, which we鈥檙e of course now well into, that drops to a more than affordable $70.6 million (鈧60 million).
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Considering its financial predicament and wealth of center backs, Barca could be tempted to sell the South American warhorse if a European rival tables his asking price. In the past, he鈥檚 been linked not just with Juve but also the likes of Manchester United and Bayern Munich.
According to SPORT, however, Araujo has evidently already made his mind up when it comes to his future and possibly moving on, demonstrating that his 鈥渋nvolvement is total鈥 in Flick鈥檚 sporting project while he 鈥渨ants to be a very important part of it as he has been since he arrived at the first team鈥 in 2019.
Araujo wants to stay at FC Barcelona
Expressing this 鈥渆very time he has had the opportunity to do so鈥, Araujo wishes to stay put at FC Barcelona. He has even cut his holidays short to already start training for the upcoming 2025/2026 Barca will start as defending treble champions of Spain, and appears to be relishing positional rivalry with Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez.
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