Barcelona decide to loan out 22-year-old defensive starlet – report

With the US pre-season tour done and dusted, Barcelona manager Hansi Flick has had enough time to assess the players at his disposal and make an informed decision about the future of some of those stars.

As reported earlier this week, it appears that Pablo Torre has done enough to convince the German tactician to earn a place in next season’s squad.

Meanwhile, youngsters like Marc Bernal, Marc Casado, and Alex Valle all appear set to be a part of Flick’s plans for the upcoming season.

However, the same cannot be said of a certain Julian Araujo.

Barcelona decide to loan out Julian Araujo

Indeed, according to SPORT, Barcelona have made the decision to loan Julian Araujo out for the 2024/25 season.

The 22-year-old Mexican right-back spent the last season out on loan at UD Las Palmas and made a solid impression, so much so that he was expected to earn a spot in the squad at Barcelona.

However, it appears that the former LA Galaxy starlet has failed to make much of an impression on the coaching staff.

Araujo, who had been dealing with some minor physical issues coming into pre-season, started the behind-closed-doors friendly against UE Olot and played 45 minutes.

In the first friendly on the US tour against Manchester City, Araujo was slotted in as a right-winger by Flick while he did not get any minutes in the subsequent matches against Real Madrid and AC Milan.

Instead, Flick preferred to use Alex Valle, a natural left-back, on the right side of the defence in both matches.

With Barcelona also being able to count on Jules Kounde and Hector Fort, and still working to sign Joao Cancelo, Araujo’s services have been seemingly deemed as surplus to requirements and a loan exit is now on the cards for the Mexican.