Barcelona 22-year-old loanee will be the club’s ‘first signing’ of the summer – report

FC Barcelona’s finances will not allow for major operations next summer, so the sporting department will have to optimise all their resources to the maximum to put together a squad with quality.

Barcelona sporting director Deco, aware of the financial difficulties, has focused on two lines of action: players who finish their contracts on 30 June and recovering some of the players the club has sent out on loan this season.

Julian Araujo to stay at Barcelona next season

One of the positions that Barcelona need to reinforce is right-back, where they only have one senior specialist in Joao Cancelo, whose continuity is not yet assured as he is owned by Manchester City.

Deco and Barça are counting on him and want to sign him permanently, but will have to negotiate with Man City to reach an agreement that satisfies all parties.

As such, SPORT is reporting that Barcelona see current loanee, Julian Araujo, as the ‘first signing’ for the summer, with the Mexican international likely to be retained in the squad for next season.

The Blaugrana have closely followed the 22-year-old right-back throughout the season at Las Palmas through Bojan Krkic, coordinator of the sporting department.

The Mexican international has grown a lot under the tutelage of Garcia Pimienta and has gained experience in La Liga, showing plenty of potential to fight to be important also in the Blaugrana setup.

In all, Araujo has made 23 appearances for Las Palmas across all competitions, even chipping in with two goals.

Of course, the opinion of the future Barcelona coach will also be important, but the idea of the sporting management is that Araujo, who will turn 23 in August, will be part of the first team next season.