Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo linked to Real Madrid free transfer in 2023 as contract talks stall
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Updated 14/01/2022 at 12:41 GMT
Real Madrid famously signed Luis Figo from Barcelona in acrimonious circumstances and now Florentino Perez could be back for another Catalan favourite. Central defender Ronald Araujo could be on his way to the Bernabeu on a free transfer in 2023 with Barcelona potentially set for another embarrassing contract failure.
Ronald Araujo of FC Barcelona
Image credit: Getty Images
Real Madrid hope to sign Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo on a free transfer in the summer of 2023.
The Uruguayan international will be out of contract and could sign a pre-contract agreement with clubs outside Spain this time next year. To that end, his current side had hoped they would tie him down to a new contract in order to secure his future at the Nou Camp.
However, Catalan radio station KNB suggests that talks between player and club have failed to progress, which would cause a huge problem with Araujo one of the few reliable and promising defensive players at Xavi Hernandez’s disposal.
Xavi is said to be planning Barca’s long-term future on a spine including the 22-year-old at the back, as well as Pedri, Gavi, Nico, Ansu Fati and Ferran Torres.
Real Madrid hoped to sign Araujo in 2018 before losing out to Barca for the then-Boston River player.
Losing a player on a free transfer is becoming something of a repetitive failure for Barcelona president Juan Laporta. The club famously saw Lionel Messi switch to Paris Saint-Germain last summer after failing to meet financial regulations in La Liga, and now seem set to lose French international winger Ousmane Dembele who is out of contract in the summer of 2022.
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