Barcelona may use emergency injury rule to register player instead of Ronald Araujo | OneFootball

Barcelona registered Vitor Roque last season due to an emergency injury rule, where those with injuries requiring more than four months can be unregistered in order to use 80% of the amount spent on their wages on another player. The season is yet to start, the Blaugrana are already considering using that rule again.

The injury to Ronald Araujo, suffered while on Uruguay duty at Copa America, required him to undergo surgery on Monday in Finland. It is expected he will be out for four to five months, more or less keeping him out for the rest of 2024. MD say that Barcelona are considering using his space in the salary limit to register another player.

Meanwhile Sport note that Barcelona had been intending to sell Araujo this summer, and he was to be the sacrifice in the transfer market in order to bring in another player. They claim that Barcelona were willing to accept a large offer from Manchester United, who are spending big on central defenders this summer.

The other two candidates to leave were Frenkie de Jong and Raphinha, but neither have shown any inclination to leave the club. The lack of new offers from Barcelona Sporting Director to Araujo, who they are in contract talks with, may have been an open invitation to leave the club. However with the injury, any deal for Araujo is off, and now Barcelona will go back to the negotiating table to try and persuade him to sign a new deal. They do not want to lose the 24-year-old for free in 2026 or on a cheaper deal in 2025.

That player could well be Inigo Martinez, who is not yet registered, but has a year left on his deal. The veteran centre-back has reportedly been impressing Hansi Flick in training. With Araujo out of action, his experience could well be valuable. The rule is no free pass though: Barcelona would have to add Araujo’s salary to their wage bill next season, in exchange for creating the space this year.