PSG want Tomas Araujo
PSG
Bournemouth’s Dean Huijsen is off the market and all of a sudden, the focus of all the big European clubs has shifted to Benfica’s Tomas Araujo.
Araujo has had a breakthrough season with Benfica and according to Foot Mercato, Premier League sides Chelsea and Liverpool along with PSG are interested in signing him during the summer transfer window. The Portuguese centre-back has come up through the ranks at Benfica and this season he’s been a regular feature for the first-team. He is contracted with the club until 2029 and his deal has a €80 million release clause in it.
All the interested clubs are well aware of the amount which they have to shell out to sign the 23-year-old but is the central defender actually worth so much
Is Tomas Araujo worth €80 million?
Tomas Araujo played 20 games last season and this campaign, he’s become a regular starter for Benfica, featuring in 43 games in all competitions. The 23-year-old is primarily a central defender but he is also capable of playing as a right-back.
This season, he’s played in 28 league games for the club, and so far the defender has helped keep 13 clean sheets. In other numbers, he’s won 60% of his tackles, averaging 1.3 tackles per game. He is a modern ball-playing centre-back who has great technical ability and is very comfortable at playing a high line.
Tomas Araujo has made 1 key tackle per 90 minutes and in the 2320 minutes of league football that he’s played the defender has been dribbled past just 13 times.
The Portugal international is a typical modern centre-back who can control the pace of the game and can help build up play from the back but paying €80 million for a player who’s played just 67 games for the senior side seems like a stretch.
As per TransferMarkt, his current market value is €32 million and there’s no reason for the Premier League clubs to gamble €80 million on the 23-year-old.
Last summer Chelsea and PSG had tabled a bid of around €60 million for Tomas Araujo and even though that offer was rejected we think €55-60 million is a fair valuation for the centre-back.