Manchester United and Liverpool will have to look elsewhere for a defender this summer after Ronald Araujo committed his future to Barcelona.
The 23-year-old has penned a contract until the summer of 2026 after a successful round of contract talks. The Uruguay international was set to enter the last 12 months of his existing deal and interest in him was intense.
Araujo’s contract situation and impressive performances have led to interest from the Premier League.
ESPN sources last month claimed that Barca’s first contract offer was worth around €5m annually for the centre-back.
Manchester United immediately readied an annual salary of €8m. That roughly equates to a weekly wage of £128,000, according to ABC. And Arsenal were reported to have matched United’s €8m salary offer.
Catalunya Radio claimed that it was Liverpool who were “most advanced” in the race for his signature. While according to Super Deporte, Manchester City were “close” to signing Araujo.
What’s clear is that Araujo was always intent on signing a new deal. And he did admit they were “working on a renewal” at the start of April.
Cheers#MadeInLaMasia pic.twitter.com/2Druyu6txm
— FC Barcelona (@FCBarcelona) April 26, 2022
Araujo
And that renewal has a release clause of €1bn included.
Just how much Barca have agreed to pay the defender is unclear, but his existing deal was worth 35,000 a week.
That was far less than the majority of his team-mates. And the nine-cap Uruguay international was keen to get a new deal to reflect his standing and importance to the team.
Xavi is a firm fan of the centre-back, who has made 39 appearances this season.
Araujo will sign the new contract on Friday 29 April at 1.30pm (CEST) on the field at Camp Nou.
The event is closed to the public, but will be broadcast by the club with speeches from Araujo and president Joan Laporta.
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