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Report: Everton eye summer swoop for Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo
According to , Everton have been met with a serious impasse in their hopes of signing Ronald Araujo from Barcelona this summer.
The Toffees are planning on strengthening Carlo Ancelotti’s defence in the next transfer window and rate Araujo’s potential highly, but his La Liga outfit are refusing to do business.
Araujo moved to the Camp Nou in 2018 from Uruguayan side Boston River in a €1.7million (£1.4m) deal that could reach €5.2m (£4.8m) through add-ons (), and has established a prominent role in Barcelona’s first-team this term.
Head coach Ronald Koeman has fielded Araujo in his starting line-up and awarded the 22-year-old a further nine appearances from the bench across all competitions, in which he has scored twice, offered an assist and helped toward 10 clean sheets.
Muscle and ankle have sidelined the £37,000-per-week () enforcer from 15 matches altogether, which has not stopped Everton from showing an interest as Director of Football Marcel Brands works on improving the defensive options at Goodison Park.
Ancelotti has struggled to establish a favoured backline pairing this term with Ben Godfrey, Michael Keane, Mason Holgate and Yerry Mina frequently interchanged, while reported last month that the latter is a target for Serie A duo Inter Milan and Fiorentina.
Juventus prospect Merit Demiral has also been linked () with a potential €30m (£25.8m) move to Goodison Park at the end of the season, although Romano notes that the Turkey international is not currently a target for the Merseyside outfit.
TBR’s view:
With Ancelotti yet to settle on a favoured defensive pairing and doubt in the long-term future of Mina at Goodison Park, Everton may have to dip into the transfer market for the second year running to acquire another centre-back following Godfrey’s October arrival.
Whether that player is Araujo remains to be seen with Barcelona claimed to have issued a hands-off warning, which could deprive the Toffees of a promising young option who Koeman has been awash with praise for this term.
‘He is a young defender, he has learnt a lot, he has shown his quality [and] his physique,’ the former Blues boss said, via quotes by , in February. ‘It’s important to have strong, fast players. He needs to improve his play on the ball, but he brings a lot to the table.’
Ancelotti similarly urged Mina to ‘do more with the ball’ earlier in the term (), suggesting Araujo may not be an ideal replacement but rather one the Italian could mould into a player more to his liking if Everton can overcome Barcelona’s impasse.