Defence has been a key area of weakness for Manchester United for a long time now. The club must have hoped that their problems at the back would be solved when they signed Raphael Varane from Real Madrid in the recent summer transfer window. Unfortunately though, the move has not proven to be nearly as effective as they would have been hoping for, till now.
Varane has had his own fair share of injury problems and has not looked at the top of his game either. On the other hand, the likes of Harry Maguire, Luke Shaw and Aaron Wan-Bissaka have raised eyebrows as well with their struggles in the current campaign.
Thus, it should not come as a massive surprise that the club have continued to be linked with centre-backs and one of the names that has cropped up most frequently is that of Barcelona’s Ronald Araujo.
Araujo’s current deal with the La Liga giants is set to run till the summer of 2023 and he is yet to put pen to paper on a new deal. A number of clubs have been linked with the Uruguayan international after his impressive performances for Barcelona, including Manchester United.
Manchester United ahead of Chelsea in race for Barcelona’s Araujo
As reported by Mundo Deportivo (via Sport Witness), the team that would be on pole to sign the Barcelona star is Manchester United. It must be pointed out though that clubs like Chelsea and Liverpool have also been linked with Araujo.
The situation surrounding Araujo is interesting as it appears that Barcelona want to keep him at Camp Nou as he has been one of their most impressive players this season.
But the two parties have not been able to agree on a contract extension yet. Thus, there could be an opportunity here for a club like Manchester United to swoop in.