Ronald Araújo is not having his best moment in Barcelona. The Uruguayan centre-back underwent surgery after an injury to the hamstring tendon in his right thigh, which he suffered in the match against Brazil in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Copa América. His recovery will prevent him from returning to the pitch until next January, which is why it was speculated that he would not be registered for the first part of the 2024/25 LaLiga season.
However, the Barça board opted to keep the player on the payroll, as the club values the fact that up to 80% of his salary can be used on another player. It is important to remember that, as of August 6, 2024, Iñigo Martínez, Vitor Roque, Pau Víctor, Marc Casadó and those who have returned from loan are not officially registered: Eric García, Julián Araujo, Alex Valle, Ansu Fati and Pablo Torre.
That's not counting Dani Olmo, with whom the Spanish team has already reached an agreement with RB Leipzig for his transfer. A signing that, naturally, will have to be registered before the deadline ends. Barcelona has already used this formula. It worked for them in its day to register Vitor Roque with the percentage of salary space that Gavi's injury freed up. The Brazilian is now one of the footballers who do not have a LaLiga contract at the moment. Although Barça had the possibility of using Araújo's contract 100%, they have opted for caution.
Araújo still has not renewed with Barcelona
A few months ago, it was expected that the centre-back would leave the club this summer. The Barça board saw the Uruguayan as a great source of income in the summer market, although the player's injury damaged all plans. Despite this, the directors saw it as a good opportunity to convince Araújo to renew his contract, which ends in 2026, but the player has refused and his future at the team may be in jeopardy. Teams such as Manchester United and PSG have shown interest in his services, so it would not be strange to see him outside of Spain soon.