There was a lot of excitement around the return of Julian Araujo to Barcelona this summer, especially considering the season he enjoyed on loan over the past year.
Playing for Las Palmas last season, the Mexican star established himself as a mainstay in defence with 25 appearances, 15 starts and one goal to his name. With over seven defensive actions per game, he was solid at the back.
While the youngster was called up for the team’s pre-season tour to the United States, his relative lack of minutes made it clear that he did not have a place in Hansi Flick’s plans and it has not taken long for a departure to materialise.
On his way out
As revealed in a recent update by Fabrizio Romano, Araujo is set to sign for Bournemouth. In fact, the Italian journalist has given the deal his evergreen ‘here we go’ tag.
All documents are ready to be processed between the two clubs involved and Barcelona expect to receive a fixed fee of €10 million from the transfer.
Julian Araujo set for a Premier League move (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images)
Notably, however, they will not have any buy-back or sell-on clause for the player which comes as a big blow considering the scale of his growth over the past season.
The plan for the right-back position
Barcelona’s decision to sell Araujo can only imply that the manager sees suitable backup options in the squad to cover at right-back.
As it stands, however, the club only have Jules Kounde who can serve as a regular starter in the position. After all, the Frenchman has become adept at playing on the flank in recent seasons.
Hector Fort and Alex Valle are the other options at Flick’s disposal who can serve to cover the void on the right side of defence.
While the three aforementioned names are the currently available options, the Blaugrana appear to have Joao Cancelo as a priority signing for the summer as well.
The Portuguese star’s arrival, however, will likely not…
Author : Adithya Eshwarla
Publish date : 2024-08-11 10:00:00
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Author : soccernews
Publish date : 2024-08-11 10:05:29
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.