Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo is one of the transfer stories to keep an eye on this summer, with various currents pushing him towards the exit door. The latest in Catalonia is that a new contract for Araujo is in the works.
Araujo has reportedly been waiting on Barcelona to come good on their promise to improve his contract, since he penned a new deal below the market rate in 2022, something which is yet to pass. Meanwhile there have also been reports that Barcelona would be willing to sell Araujo this summer for close to €100m, amidst interest from Bayern Munich and the Premier League.
The 24-year-old is closer to renewing his deal after conversations with Sporting Director Deco though, say MD. The Uruguayan was unclear on what their plans were, and how they wanted to proceed with his future amid those rumours. President Joan Laporta’s words have been more than just posturing, declaring that he would renew Araujo for life.
🚨 Ronald Araújo's renewal is getting closer. The Uruguayan at first hesitated in the face of Bayern's dizzying offer and Barcelona's lack of communication, but the club have now redirected the situation after President Laporta came to intervene. It's looking much better.… pic.twitter.com/lQr2cZhl18
— barcacentre (@barcacentre) March 25, 2024
During an interview with the same outlet, Laporta also said the following.
“Sometimes communication doesn’t quite get where it needs to go. I mean the negotiations. And there I think that this is already solved in some way because there was some distortion when it came to communicating everything we had in mind for Ronald,” commented the president.
Now Araujo has heard directly from both Laporta and Deco that they want to rely on him for the coming years. Previously he had doubted whether that was the case, but he has been reassured.
Even so, Barcelona will still have to find a way to offer a significant new deal, and Araujo still remains one of their most lucrative assets on the market. While both Barcelona and Araujo may want to continue their relationship, keeping Araujo means making up the numbers elsewhere.
