Barcelona star snubs Chelsea and Man Utd for Premier League rivals

Carlo Garganese

• 21 May 2024 11:30 BST
• 3 min read

Chelsea and Manchester United both look set to miss out on Ronald Araujo, with the Barcelona defender edging towards Aston Villa this summer.

That is according to Sport, who report that Villa coach Unai Emery and sporting director Monchi met with the Barcelona board to discuss Araujo.

The talks were positive, with Barcelona happy to sell Araujo at the right price.

Emery and Monchi also believe that Araujo is happy to join Aston Villa, who will be in the Champions League next season unlike Chelsea and Man Utd.

READ MORE: Latest Man Utd transfer news

The news about Aston Villa comes as a blow to Man Utd and Chelsea, who both have targeted Araujo to strengthen their defence this summer.

Chelsea need to find a replacement for Thiago Silva, who has left the club on a free transfer.

Meanwhile, United will sign at least one centre back this summer as a number of stoppers are set to leave. Raphael Varane and Jonny Evans see their contracts expire, while the futures of Victor Lindelof and Maguire are at risk.

Barcelona will listen to offers for Araujo this summer.

The reason for this is a need to raise cash, as well as his disastrous mistake in the Champions League quarter final against PSG.

READ MORE: Latest Man Utd transfer rumours

Leading 3-1 on aggregate and 1-0 at home in the second leg, Araujo clumsily got himself sent off and PSG came back to win 4-1 on the night and go through.

Araujo has been heavily criticised since and Barcelona are now ready to sell him if the right offer comes in.

Sport adds that Barcelona believe they can raise over €80 million through a sale, which will go a long way to helping pay off the debts amidst the Blaugrana’s well-publicised financial problems of the last few years.

Bayern Munich have also been linked with Araujo in recent weeks.

Araujo buyout clause

Araujo has a contract at Barcelona until 2026, with a buyout clause inserted into his deal worth a staggering €1 billion.

The 25-year-old Uruguay international has established himself as a regular at Camp Nou, featuring on 149 occasions for the first team since arriving from Boston River in 2020.

However, he has also been hit by a number of injuries during his time at Barca.

Araujo has won one La Liga, one Copa del Rey and one Supercopa de Espana during his time at Barcelona.

He has been capped 16 times by the Uruguay national team and he travelled to the 2022 World Cup but did not play due to injury.