Since returning to the presidential chair of Barcelona FC, Joan Laporta and his associates were faced by a mountain of problems that needed to be solved. Although their hands were tied in most cases due to financial constraints, they managed to stabilize the club, assemble a competitive team, and lately they have been seeing their action come to fruition in the form of good results.Barcelona are far from solving all their problems, but they are managing to solve them one by one. Among them was the status of the Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo, who affirmed himself under Xavi and became one of the pillars of the Catalans’ defense. Whether he plays as a central defender or a fullback, Araujo is an irreplaceable link and one of the most reliable players on Xavi’s team. All this was noticed by other big clubs, so it was speculated that big names such as Real Madrid, Liverpool, Manchester City and Chelsea will try and snatch Araujo. His contract with Barcelona binds him until 2023, which means that the Catalans would be forced to sell him in July if they don’t want to lose him for free.Thu 22:00: (5.50) Eintr.Frankfurt (3.90) Barcelona (1.70)Araujo’s contract has thus become one of the priorities of Barca’s sports sector in recent weeks.”I am optimistic about the new contract. I want to finalize it all as soon as possible and stay here for many years,” the Uruguayan said recently.Negotiations to extend co-operation are never easy. Especially since Araujo is one of the lowest-paid players in Barcelona. The Uruguayan has an annual salary of only 980,000 USD, which is far less than backup sweepers such as Clement Lenglet, who earns about 5.5 million USD a year, or Samuel Umtiti, who has 6.5 million USD per season. Araujo’s agent insisted that his client is brought to the same level because he is a starter, but Barça offered 4.4 million USD a year, justifying that the club has a limited budget for salaries.Bojan reveals: “Pep’s Barca didn’t treat Zlatan with due respect”In the end, the two sides found a compromise. Araujo agreed to a lower salary than he deserves, but Barça also had to agree to a shorter contract. The club wanted to ‘lock him up’ with a five-year contract, but he only agreed to a three-year agreement, ie cooperation until the summer of 2025. He will be 26 then, and if he continues to develop like this, he will be able to sign a deal of his career. With Barcelona or somewhere else.He remains in Barça for now, but the Catalans will be in a similar situation in three years and may regret not offering more money now and tying the Uruguayan to Camp Nou for a longer period of time.
