Barcelona has rejected a $36 million (€35 million) offer from Juventus for defender Ronald Araujo, but is willing to settle for between €70 million and €80 million, according to MARCA, citing anonymous sources.
This week, various reports from Italy indicated that Araujo had agreed to sign for the “Old Lady” during the existing winter moving period.
Araujo, injured in July in his country’s Copa America quarter-finals against Brazil, made his debut under Hansi Flick last weekend against Barbastro.
While sidelined, he has been made to watch Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez form one of European soccer’s best center back partnerships which helped Barca top La Liga by as many as six points before a team collapse towards the end of the year.
While La Gazzetta dello Sport first reported that Araujo had reached an agreement with Juve, La Repubblica later claimed that the Serie A giants had convinced Barca to settle for a deal that consisted of an upfront loan paid for the rest of the campaign and then a takeover obligation. the Uruguayan.
MARCA debunks that report and explains on Saturday, ahead of Barca taking on eternal rival Real Madrid in the Spanish Super Cup final, that Barca has rejected a €35 million proposal from Juventus for Araujo.
However, they would be willing to settle for between 71. 8 and 82 million dollars (between 70 and 80 million euros), and the same media writes that Juventus is in a position to increase its offer to 51. 3 million dollars. (50 million euros). million).
An offer of this type would still be lower than the value that Barça was asking for at that time, which amounted to 102. 5 million dollars (100 million euros) around this same time last year, when Bayern Munich was interested in Araujo. .
In Saturday’s pre-match press conference, Flick asked about Araujo and said: “When I started as a coach, I saw that there were a lot of rumors. “
“Ronald came back from a horrible injury and is now strong enough to play. He is an option and he is very professional. I think we have taken care of him.
“It’s not my role to spread rumors, but I need him on my team. He’s one of the defenders,” Flick added.
For this reason, several big European clubs, and not just Juventus, need to get Araujo from Barça at a time when he has not yet renewed his contract that expires on June 30, 2026.
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