Barcelona closing in on €10m agreement to sell 22-year-old defender
Barcelona signed Julian Araujo in January 2023 from LA Galaxy in the MLS. The Mexican defender was regarded as highly talented and was brought to Spain in the hope that he would be a right-back reinforcement in the squad.
However, Xavi Hernandez decided not to trust the 22-year-old last season, sending him out on loan to Las Palmas. To be fair to him, Araujo has an exceptional season in Garcia Pimienta’s team with his performance against Vinicius Jr. earning accolades.
Julian returned to Barcelona more experienced and having played a good season in La Liga. One assumed that Hansi Flick would give the Mexican international a chance considering the Catalan club is yet to make Joao Cancelo’s loan deal permanent.
However, the German coach placed very little trust in Julian in pre-season, making it clear that he was not a part of his plans. Flick preferred to use the left-footed Alex Valle at right-back rather than trust the 22-year-old.
Now, as per reliable journalist Toni Juanmarti, Barcelona are close to selling Julian Araujo to Premier League club A.F.C Bournemouth for a fee of around €10m. The player will not train under Hansi Flick anymore.
Juanmarti hasn’t mentioned it but there is a good chance Barcelona would look to insert a sell-on clause in his sale which they tend to do with most young players they sell. It helps in the future should the player go on to make a name for himself in the game.
Transfermarkt values Julian at around €8m meaning Barcelona have got slightly over his market value. If his performances for Las Palmas last season are evidence, this market value could keep going up in the coming years.
For Barcelona, this is welcome income that they can use in times of financial predicament. The Catalan club has already signed Olmo this summer and could sign more players before the end of the window. Such sales could help the club in this regard. It’ll be interesting to see where Julian Araujo’s career goes from here and we wish him the very best for the future.
