Barcelona planned to sell €70 million-rated superstar this summer, focused on renewal now

The injury that Ronald Araujo suffered while on international duty with Uruguay earlier this month has forced some change of plans at FC Barcelona.

The 25-year-old sustained the injury while representing his national team at Copa America and having successfully undergone surgery on Monday, he will now be out of action for four months until December.

Barcelona planned to sell Araujo

Now, SPORT reports that prior to Araujo’s injury setback, Barcelona planned on selling the Uruguayan international this summer transfer window.

Given that they needed to sell at least one big name to free up salary space and generate revenue, three names were being considered: Raphinha, Frenkie de Jong, and Araujo, with the latter being seen as the likeliest to be sold.

Negotiations for the renewal of the centre-back, whose contract expires in 2026, were not going well with the player’s entourage and it was clear to Barça that his agents were betting on a favourable sale for all parties.

Barça wanted to sell Araujo before his injury. (Photo by Candice Ward/Getty Images)

And in this scenario, Deco was also clear that he should be sold despite the fact that the positions here did not converge with the president, Joan Laporta, who has been actively trying to renew and retain the defender.

But with Manchester United emerging as an interested party and offering him a hefty contract and Deco not proposing to improve Araujo’s terms was seen as an indicator of Barça being open to his exit.

Focus back on renewal

Now, Barcelona are going to try to re-engage with Araujo as best they can because they don’t want him to enter the final year of his contract without signing the extension and the player is keen to continue.

As mentioned earlier, Araujo’s current contract with Barça expires in 2026, meaning he will be entering the final year of his deal next summer.

And, Barça are eager to avoid that scenario and with his exit no longer possible because of the injury, the focus will shift back to trying to convince him to pen a new deal.

*Player valuation in title obtained from transfermarkt.com on date of publication