At FC Barcelona, an intense summer is on the horizon. The season ended on a positive note, but with the disappointment of not reaching the Champions League final. With the feeling of a job well done, the decision has been made to keep the core of the team together, but also to add that extra something the team needs to reach greater heights. That extra something, after signing Joan García, is the much-needed winger. Hansi Flick made it very clear in his last press conference of the season that this signing was a must: “In the last few games, we haven’t had many options for these positions. Looking at players is Deco’s job, but I’ll help him,” he said.
Laporta reassures fans… but is it real?
A signing that points to Nico Williams and that will be expensive and for which it will be necessary to make room. In recent hours, Laporta spoke about the 1:1 rule for the transfer market. “The salary cap has allowed us to comply with LaLiga’s 1:1 rule. Last year it was tight, but we managed it and now we are in this position, which is why we registered Olmo and Pau Víctor. They put a lot of obstacles in our way, but we got there. We can sign players as normal and we are no longer under LaLiga intervention,” he concluded. That’s not what LaLiga president Javier Tebas implied when he threw a dart by saying that there were a lot of signings, but that they had to be registered. That Barça knew what it had to do.
Araújo and a departure that would give some breathing space
The club could do with a cash injection, which it will not get from the expected departures, and could opt to close a million-dollar sale that would lighten the wage bill and allow it to reinvest that money in a signing. In this regard, Ronald Araújo has a good chance of being the chosen one. Although he regained prominence at the end of the season and even had the support of the coach, he has a good chance of being the chosen one.
As we said, the season ended with Hansi Flick’s support for the work done by the Uruguayan. “Of course, one hundred percent. I’m confident he’ll be here. It’s been a difficult season with the injury, but he’s been able to come back,“ he said, emphasizing once again that ”Cubarsí and Iñigo have played very well, it hasn’t been easy to join the group, but I have a lot of confidence in him for the preseason.”
However, the situation has changed in recent days as the club wants to make moves for which it needs cash, and there is a special situation with the center back. Araújo signed a new contract this year at the insistence of the club, which saw that he could leave for Juventus and needed him due to the injury of Iñigo Martínez and the absence of Christensen. The new contract included a special clause that would allow him to leave easily in the summer. During the first ten days of July, his release clause drops from 1 billion to 65 million. In other words, in 15 days, the player will have an affordable price tag that will put him on the radar of many teams.
Juventus returns to the scene
One of the teams that has shown interest is the one that was on the verge of signing him a few months ago, Juventus. According to journalist Hugo Scoccia of the newspaper Sport, the Italian side has not forgotten Araújo, whom it sees as the key piece it needs to strengthen its defense. According to the aforementioned source, Juve is ready to make a move and its management will design its offensive strategy to bring the center back to Turin in the coming weeks. Araújo’s future is still unknown, but it will be cleared up in the coming month.