According to Gerard Romero, Arsenal have offered Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo a contract worth €6m-a-year, with Liverpool also lurking.
What’s the story?
Well, the offer from Arsenal equates to £5m-a-year and £96,153-a-week.
It comes amid a tense period for Barcelona, as the Uruguay international’s contract expires in June 2023.
Araujo is yet to sign fresh terms, and if negotiations continue to stall, Barcelona may decide to cash in this summer, or else they risk losing him for nothing in 2023.
According to Marca, the 23-year-old has already rejected one contract offer from the Spanish giants.
Elsewhere, it was Sport who claimed that Liverpool are keen to sign Araujo.
In his current contract, the South American has a release clause worth £167m, although we can’t see the Gunners or the Reds going near that if he’s close to free agency.
Arsenal and Liverpool don’t need Ronald Araujo
In our view, the Premier League giants should only entertain this deal if they can get Araujo for free, as they don’t really need him.
Jürgen Klopp already has Virgil van Dijk, Ibrahima Konate, Joel Matip and Joe Gomez to choose from, in what is a bloated centre-back department.
In Arsenal’s case, they lack outstanding options behind Ben White and Gabriel Magalhães, with Rob Holding available as cover.
However, there is no need for Araujo as William Saliba is set to return to the Emirates Stadium when his loan spell at Marseille ends.
Unless Arsenal or Liverpool lose a centre-back this summer, they shouldn’t push the boat out to sign Araujo, in our view.
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