Barcelona are in something of a tricky situation when it comes to star defender Ronald Araujo. Having reportedly promised the Uruguayan a major salary increase after he signed a club-friendly deal in 2022, they now find themselves in a position where they do not want to or cannot offer him the contract he was expecting.

With two years left on his deal, Barcelona must either sell him now or work out a way to tie him to a new deal. Next summer he will have a year left on his deal, and his value will decrease significantly. Sporting Director Deco earlier in the year had intended to look for a sale, with Manchester United and Bayern Munich interested at the time, but both have dropped their interest, and now Araujo is injured until the end of the transfer window.

There’s a meeting scheduled between Flick and Deco today to finalize planning for the upcoming season. @jbatalla7

— barcacentre (@barcacentre) July 8, 2024

According to Sport, it leaves Barcelona in something of a hole. It is mentioned that the fact Araujo’s agent is not ‘friendly’ with the club works against him, and presumably them too, but if Barcelona do not meet his salary demands, then the intention is to run down his contract and leave the club for free in 2026, with a sale off the table. The Catalan daily note that the deal Araujo would be willing to sign would have to be at the earning potential of what he would get in the Premier League.

This would represent major mismanagement of their assets for Barcelona if Araujo were to leave on a free. There is of course plenty of time to turn the situation around, but the Blaugrana are in no position to see their most valuable players walk out the door for free. It could mean caving to his demands,  but that will likely come with sacrifices elsewhere in the squad or in their recruitment plans.

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