Posted January 6, 2022 at 7:30 pm by Dan Marciano
Due to the injury of Ronald Araujo, FC Barcelona are considering recruiting a central defender this winter. The name of Matthijs de Ligt is mentioned by the Spanish press.
FC Barcelona did not reassure, but assured the essential this Thursday by beating Linares Deportivo in Copa del Rey (1-2). But the Catalan club lost for several weeks Frenkie De Jong and Ronald Araujo . The Dutch midfielder is suffering from an injury to his left leg and will be sidelined for several weeks. As for Ronald Araujo, he will be playing billiards this Friday. “First-team player Ronald Araujo has a fractured right metacarpal and third metacarpal on his right hand. The player will be operated on tomorrow Friday by Dr Xavier Mir under the supervision of the Club's medical services. A new declaration will be provided once this intervention is completed ”communicated FC Barcelona. The two players will fill the infirmary a little more and will join Ansu Fati, Memphis Depay or even Martin Braithwaite , also on the key. This injury raises questions about the continuation of recruitment and the winter transfer window.
A central defender expected at FC Barcelona
Indeed, after registering the arrivals of Ferran Torres and Daniel Alves, FC Barcelona had planned to recruit a center forward capable of taking over from Sergio Agüero , driven into retirement by heart problems. The Catalan leaders had explored the tracks Edinson Cavani (Manchester United) and Alvaro Morata. But as Sport explains on Thursday, Joan Laporta 's plans could be called into question due to the injury of Ronald Araujo . The Blaugrana club may be looking for a center-back this January, which was not initially planned. Barça, who should also lose Samuel Umtiti this winter, is looking at several options. According to the Spanish daily, officials could favor a financially affordable transfer. This defender would come to help out Xavi until the end of the season. But FC Barcelona could also make the decision to invest heavily in a player, who will stay in Catalonia for many years.
Barça ready to give De Ligt a shot?
Sport cites one name in particular, that of Matthijs de Ligt . Linked to Juventus until 2024, the Dutch defender would have desires elsewhere, as his agent had indicated at the beginning of December. “Matthijs de Ligt is now ready for a new stage, he thinks so too. I think we all know which clubs to name for Matthijs de Ligt as the next step. We will see this summer. The Premier League? It could be Barcelona too, or Real Madrid or Paris Saint-Germain, ”he told Nos. FC Barcelona is therefore one of the clubs likely to welcome Matthijs de Ligt . A player watched for many years by the Blaugrana formation. Especially since Joan Laporta has a strong asset. Sport had explained that Mino Raiola had put a “special Barça” clause in the contract of De Ligt . FC Barcelona could recruit him for only 75M €. No scenario would be excluded internally.