Glenn Fernandes
Arsenal have now joined Manchester United in pursuit of Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo
According to a tweet by Spanish journalist Gerard Romero (h/t Sports Witness), Arsenal have now entered the race to sign Manchester United target and Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo. The 23-year-old defender has also been linked to Chelsea in the past.
The Gunners are slowly starting to create a stable lineup and currently sit four in the Premier league table. Mikel Arteta has done a good job of imprinting his fluid possession-based brand of football at the Emirates.
The Spanish manager has largely put his faith in youngsters and that seems to be paying dividends on the pitch. It is thought that the North London club has emerged as a surprise candidate for Araujo. He has less than 18 months left on his contract and top clubs around Europe could be looking to exploit this situation.
It is believed that the London-based club is willing to offer him an annual salary of €6m which is €2m short of what the Red Devils are set to put on the table. The Mancunian club will be hoping that this could go in their favour should any possibility of a deal become real.
Can we beat our bitter-rivals off the field
The Red side of Manchester seems to have fallen on the perch ever since the departure of Sir Alex Fergusson. City rivals Manchester City have now overtaken us and are constantly adding more silverware to their growing trophy cabinet whereas we haven’t secured a single title since the departure of Jose Mourinho
The Old Trafford outfit has spent an enormous amount of money and resources in trying to shore up their defence by purchasing the likes of Harry Maguire, Rafael Varane and Victor Lindelof amongst others. Despite this the Red Devils have still managed to ship an alarming number of goals and lack a stable central-defensive partnership.
At 23, Araujo has shown that he is more than capable of anchoring the backline with Blaugrana. His dominating presence in the air coupled with his composure has seen him make a great impact with the Camp Nou outfit. He has played 31 matches across all competitions for the Spanish club this campaign, netting three goals in the process.
The Uruguayan defender could still offer us many of his prime footballing years. He could go on to become the future of the backline at the Theatre of Dreams but there are quite a few obstacles in this pursuit at the moment.
The 23-year-old has come up through the ranks with Barcelona. Current manager Xavi Hernandez has shown a lot of faith in him and the young defender has grown in leaps and bounds under his tutelage. It would therefore take something really extraordinary to lure Araujo.
Add to this the interest of bitter rivals could further inflate his demands. The Gunners are currently headed for UEFA Champions League qualification for next season should they be able to maintain their current position in the PL.
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All these factors could make it difficult to hijack any deal for the youngster. Their ability to fork out more wages could be the only plus point here but only the future can tell whether or not the Red Devils are able to attract Ronald Araujo to Old Trafford.
