Barcelona president Joan Laporta is afraid that Real Madrid will make a move for Ronald Araujo and is ready to sell him to Liverpool, as a long-term replacement for Virgil van Dijk, according to a report in Spain, as TEAMtalk analyses whether Xabi Alonso could try to sign the defender.
Despite signing Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth earlier this summer, Madrid are on the hunt for a new centre-back, with Liverpool star Ibrahima Konate and Arsenal ace William Saliba firmly on Los Blancos’s radar. Alonso used a three-man defence at Bayer Leverkusen and also changed to a flat back-four when needed, and the former Liverpool and Madrid midfielder wants another top-class centre-back for tactical flexibility.
With Konate out of contract at Liverpool at the end of next season, Madrid are aiming to get a deal done for €25m (£21.8m, $29.3m), according to AS, but the Premier League champions are still confident that the defender will sign a new deal and extend his stay at Anfield.
Madrid are also reported to have made an offer to Arsenal for William Saliba, but the France international centre-back has publicly said that he hopes to sign a new contract with the north London club and stay at the Emirates Stadium.
Amid obstacles to sign Konate or Saliba, Barcelona ‘fear’ that Madrid manager Alonso will turn his attention to Araujo, according to Real Madrid-centric news outlet Defensa Central.
Barcelona president Laporta is reportedly ready to cash in on Araujo, and the Spanish champions are fearful that ‘he could end up at Real Madrid’ and cause another major controversy like Luis Figo did back in 2000 when he left the Blaugrana for arch-rivals Los Blancos.
The report has claimed that that is why Laporta ‘wants’ Araujo ‘to go to another club’, adding that Liverpool are ‘willing’ to pay more than €40million (£34.7m, $46.3m) for the Uruguay international defender, who can play as a centre-back or as a right-back.
Defensa Central has suggested that Liverpool view Araujo as a long-term replacement for Virgil van Dijk, who recently signed a new contract with the Premier League champions but is now 34.
Araujo has been on the books of Barcelona since 2018 and is under contract with the Spanish and European giants until the summer of 2031.
Due to injury issues, the 26-year-old made 25 appearances for Barcelona last season, scoring two goals and giving two assists in the process.
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