Barcelona identify primary candidate for summer exit – Football España

Barcelona are facing major financial problems ahead of the summer after their €100m VIP seats sale was excluded from consideration by La Liga. They had hoped for a productive summer after returning to La Liga’s 1:1 rule in January, but as things stand, they are now back outside of this going into the next transfer window.

These developments in the last few days will have a significant impact on Barcelona’s business, given that their salary limit has been reduced. New deals for Wojciech Szczesny and Lamine Yamal are likely to be postponed until a major sale happens, as has been reported by Relevo.

This sale will be needed to ensure that Barcelona can operate relatively normally during the summer transfer window, and according to the report, the favourite to be moved on by the Catalan side is Ronald Araujo.

Back in January, Araujo appeared destined to leave Barcelona before a dramatic U-turn saw him sign a new contract. However, that agreement included a significant reduction on his release clause, which is now reported to be worth €65m. And the Catalans are hoping that this is triggered in the summer, as it would allow them some financial normality for the rest of the transfer window.

Araujo had been tipped as a player that would become a pillar at Barcelona for many years to come, but this season, he has lot significant prominence. He is not a regular starter for head coach Hansi Flick, with Pau Cubarsi and Inigo Martinez being the preferred centre-back partnership for the German head coach.

It will be interesting to see whether Araujo is moved on by Barcelona in the summer. At this stage, it would be a big blow for him to depart as there is no obvious successor at the club, unless it is believed that Eric Garcia can make the step up.