Ronald Araujo: A potato so hot it burns
The Uruguayan defender has not made a place for himself in Hansi Flick's plans and is eyeing an exit.
BarcelonaAt today's Barça, often dominated by improvisation and outbursts, a simple informal conversation can change the course of events. Samuel Umtiti knows this well, having managed to stay at the club after warming up to Joan Laporta in the presidential office when Mateu Alemany had been working on solutions to get rid of him for a few weeks. Frenkie de Jong, also pointed out by the former Barça director of football as being too expensive for what he brought to the table, also remained at Barcelona thanks to the president's fondness for his game.
By virtue of another of these man-to-man talks, Ronald Araujo agreed to renew with Barça during the winter transfer window. His transfer to Juventus had been strongly rumored for days because he saw that he would not have a starting presence in Hansi Flick's plans, but the injury to Iñigo Martínez in the Spanish Super Cup final, combined with the recurring physical problems of Andreas Christensen, changed the script. The absences suddenly made him a vital piece in a few weeks with a heavy load of matches, and the Barça sporting director, Deco, convinced him overnight to back down.
The Uruguayan center-back, one of the squad's captains, signed a contract until June 30, 2031, but at the same time agreed to a friendly exit for this coming summer for €70 million, a market value well below what his last buyout clause (€1 billion) reflected. This unilateral measure is temporary: it only applies to the first ten days of July. However, the club's offices have not ruled out having to negotiate even below those €70 million, as they are aware that they could miss out on a good sale if they push too far. Depending on the situation, it can be counterproductive to ask for too much money in exchange for a player who, far from increasing his value in these decisive months of competition, has raised significant doubts about his performance.
Ronald Araujo's capital errors on the big stage
The latest signs of these problems acclimatizing to the constantly dangerous defensive situation posed by Flick came with the yellow card he showed Iñigo during the second half of the Inter-Barça match. To avoid any unpleasant surprises, the German withdrew the Basque midfielder, who was Barça's best defender on the Meazza pitch, and called on Araujo, which automatically shifted Cubarsí to the left flank. The Rivera native was late to mark the goal that forced extra time, scored by Francesco Acerbi in the 93rd minute. While the veteran Lombard center-back celebrated his feat shirtless, Araujo lamented Gerard Martín's lack of forcefulness with Denzel Dumfries in a situation the referees didn't punish. Sources from the locker room consulted by ARA criticized Marciniak's permissiveness, but didn't excuse Araujo's defensive passivity: "He was fresh. They can't draw us when he's, in theory, an expert in duels in the box."
It was precisely that sin that condemned the Barcelona captain in the 4-3, the work of Davide Frattesi after a previous move by Marcus Thuram that he failed to contain. Asked about this play in the mixed zone, Araujo shook off his flea-bites: "Do you think I lack forcefulness? In football, there are covers, and that's how these situations are resolved." Implicitly, therefore, he criticized a lack of help from his teammates to minimize Thuram's progress. These words, along with the memory of his straight red card in last season's decisive Barça-PSG match, fueled thousands of users to criticize him with messages on social media. To silence some of them, he disabled the comment option on his official Instagram profile.
Jonathan Tah, Flick's compatriot and client of his friend Pini Zahavi, is patiently waiting for Barça's call; Eric Garcia has become an increasingly valued all-rounder, and Christensen is eager to be useful in a position—defense—that has been short on strength in the final stretch of the season, as evidenced by the muscle injuries to Jules Kounde and Alejandro Balde. With La Liga still to be decided, and definitively removed from the starting lineup, Araujo faces crucial weeks for his future, which grows ever further from the new Camp Nou with each passing day.