Nobody at FC Barcelona saw it coming. Blaugrana since 2018, Ronald Araujo (25 years old) asked to leave Catalonia. Under contract until 2026, the Uruguayan central defender, captain of Barça, had decided to give in to the advances of Juventus. A huge blow for the Culés who did not expect to see their leader want to leave in the middle of the season. And if Araujo wanted to leave, it was because he had been convinced by the project presented by Thiago Motta’s Juventus.
The Old Lady, who is in the process of finalizing the arrival of Parisian striker Randal Kolo Muani, seemed willing to pay €50 million to the Blaugranas, even if the latter had indicated that it would be necessary to increase to €70 million to possibly dissuade them from retaining their South American. But behind the scenes, the Catalans were working hard to convince their captain not to leave the ship. Robert Lewandowski was filmed asking his teammate to stay just after the final whistle of the Spanish Super Cup final won against Real Madrid (5-2).
Deco made the difference
And yesterday, President Joan Laporta brought it up again at a press conference. “The players we have are very useful for Barça. And we want them to continue. Ronald is under contract and we want him to stay. He speaks with management and we will find a solution. he is a player that we appreciate on a professional and personal level. We have a direct and pleasant relationship with him. Things happened that I don’t want to talk about, but we want to find a solution that satisfies everyone.”. A work which has, it seems, borne fruit.
Mundo Deportivo announced this Wednesday morning that Deco, the club’s sports director, managed to turn things around last night. The former FC Porto player convinced Araujo to stay and the latter would therefore have drawn a line under his Turin adventure. According to the pro Barça daily, Deco’s insistence would have pleased the Uruguayan who inevitably felt like a desired element. And that’s not all, since MD adds that a contract extension could quickly be signed. This is called a 180 degree turnaround.
