Ronald Araujo FC Barcelona
Camp Nou FC Barcelona
According to a report by El Nacional, Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is obsessed with Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo and wants to sign him during the summer window.
The Gunners are planning to spend big money in a bid to revamp their starting lineup and Arteta wants to restock his defensive department with the signing of a new centre-back.
At the moment, signing Ronald Araujo is definitely not a priority for Arsenal but the North London side are still willing to pay around €60 million for the Uruguayan international whose contract with Barcelona runs until 2031.
Should Arsenal spend money on a new centre-back?
Gabriel and William Saliba have done exceptionally well but both the defenders have been linked with exits. While it’s hard to see either of them leaving at the end of this season, with teams like Real Madrid and PSG circling, Mikel Arteta can surely lose one of them next year.
In such a scenario, signing a new centre-back becomes somewhat of a necessity and if Arsenal can bring someone like Ronald Araujo on board, it will be a great bit of business.
This season the 26-year-old might have fallen down the pecking order but Ronald Araujo has been Barcelona’s defensive backbone in the previous four campaigns. He’s played 162 games for Barca across all competitions and Arteta can certainly use a leader like him in his starting lineup.
Despite being a central defender, last season he had made three goal contributions in the league and on the defensive side he won 80% of his tackles. He made 102 recovery runs and was dribbled past just 5 times in almost 2000 minutes of league football.
TransferMarkt currently values Ronald Araujo at €50 million so Arsenal’s offer of €60 million seems pretty fair.
Will Barcelona accept €60 million for Ronald Araujo?
Barcelona have set Araujo’s release clause at €65 million for the upcoming transfer window and if Arsenal are really offering €60 million, the Blaugrana will definitely accept this proposal.
It’s an open secret that Barca need finances to balance their books and if they can bring in €60 million by offloading a benchwarmer, the manager and even the fans won’t be discontent.
The emergence of defenders like Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez has pushed Ronald Araujo down the pecking order and this season he’s started just 4 LaLiga games. Clearly, Flick has no use of him and if Laporta can use the sale money to sign a new centre-forward, the manager will green light Araujo’s exit almost immediately.