Split image of Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Barcelona defender Andoni Iraola with the Liverpool badge in between - copyright TEAMtalk
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk and Barcelona defender Andoni Iraola
Liverpool defender Virgil van Dijk has been singing the praises of Ronald Araujo to Reds manager Andoni Iraola, according to a journalist, who has also revealed what the Premier League club’s scouts think of the Barcelona defender.
Araujo is set to join Liverpool, with the Barcelona defender to undergo a medical with the Premier League giants on Sunday, according to The Liverpool Echo.
TEAMtalk’s transfer insider, Graeme Bailey, has reported that Liverpool will sign Araujo on a season-long loan deal.
Liverpool, who appointed Iraola as their manager earlier this summer, will have the option to make the loan deal permanent at the end of the 2026/27 campaign for €55million (£47.1m, $63.5m).
Iraola had told the Liverpool owners, Fenway Sports Group (FSG), to get him a new centre-back, and now the Spaniard has had his wish granted.
El Pais journalist Diego Torres Romano has provided further information on the deal.
According to Romano, who has over 50,000 followers on X, Iraola got a glowing recommendation from Liverpool defender Van Dijk when he asked him about Araujo.
Liverpool scouts also believe that the 27-year-old Uruguay international central defender is worth €120m (£103m, $139m) when he is fit and on form.
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What Liverpool scouts and Virgil van Dijk think of Ronald Araujo
Romano posted on X at 9:43pm on August 8: “Iraola asked Van Dijk for his opinion on Araujo.
“Van Dijk told him that for him, he was the best ball-playing centre-back in the world. And with pace, a real gem.
“Liverpool has the 3rd-best squad in the world and dreams of signing Araujo.
“FCB isn’t in the top-10 and considers him useless.
“The Barca sociomedatic environment unanimously decreed that Araujo is clumsy.
“Iraola promotes the most possession-based soccer in the Premier and begged for Araujo.
“Who knows more about soccer? The environment or Iraola?
“Iraola turned Zabarny into a centre-back worth 75 million and sold Huijsen for 65.
“When Iraola told Liverpool that Araujo in form is worth triple, and that if he gets him back he’s the perfect centre-back for his ultra-attacking possession game, the club gave him full credit.
“Liverpool handed Araujo the 17 million gross salary as if receiving a gift.
“If he recovers, they’ll pay the 40 million fixed transfer fee + 15 million in variables with the conviction that it would be a steal.
“Liverpool’s scouts say that healthy, he’s worth 120 million.
“All the technical departments in Europe (Deco included) knew that Araujo has the potential of a gifted centre-back for the first division.
“But Laporta’s media circle spread the word that he was clumsy because he didn’t bring it out ‘like Pique’.
“What they did to him is very much like mobbing.”
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