25-year-old Barcelona defender’s importance continues to decline despite recent renewal | OneFootball

FC Barcelona has worked on several contract renewals over the past two months, and one of the most important deals they successfully completed was the renewal of Uruguayan centre-back Ronald Araujo.

The defender’s negotiations with the Catalan club dragged on for a while, and he also looked close to a move to Juventus, but ultimately, the Blaugranes were able to arrive at an agreement with him after Inigo Martinez suffered an injury.

Araujo also accepted the terms that Barcelona offered him, especially as he was confident that he will be able to get a place in Hansi Flick’s starting eleven. However, he also kept the door for a possible departure open, as his release clause of €1 billion was replaced by a €65 million clause for the first ten days of the summer transfer window.

As Diario AS has noted, the wisdom of keeping this door open is becoming clearer now, as the 25-year-old Uruguayan is currently having a very secondary role in the team.

Inigo Martinez has remained the leader of the defence following his return from injury, Pau Cubarsi also still remains a key part of the defence, while Eric Garcia has also seen his importance increase in recent days.

As a result, Araujo is the fourth-choice defender in the team, and he actually has not played in the last three games against Rayo Vallecano, Las Palmas, and Atletico Madrid, as he remained an unused substitute in all of these games. The last time he got on the pitch was in the match against Sevilla on February 9th.

Meanwhile, there is also no doubt that there is no other centre-back like Ronald Araujo in the Barcelona squad, as he provides a lot of physicality and strength, as well as an advantage in aerial plays.

But with Andreas Christensen’s return from injury and the possible arrival of Jonathan Tah, the Uruguayan might see his importance further decline in the team. It remains to be seen whether he can recover his starting role at the Catalan club or if he decides to leave at the end of the season.