Transfer saga is over
The transfer saga is finally over. Mexican national team right-back Julián Araujo has joined Barcelona from LA Galaxy despite the player’s registration not going through on deadline day. Despite the error, all parties have now decided to complete the €4 million deal immediately. The Galaxy will also receive a significant percentage of any future transfer. Araujo will officially join Barça B but will train with the first team per a source with direct knowledge of the situation. Also, both Barça and the Galaxy hope that FIFA will accept their appeal and allow Araujo to play games in the second half of the 2022/23 season.
Source on Julián Araujo to #Barca. The original plan was to keep Araujo on loan at #LAGalaxy but MLS rules and salary charges made that impossible.
Teams from leagues with an open market were interested but Barca wanted him to get acclimatized to the 1st team asap. pic.twitter.com/gDOWETTDil
— Manuel Veth (@ManuelVeth) February 17, 2023
“Julián joining FC Barcelona is a great story of a young kid from Southern California coming into the LA Galaxy Academy through LA Galaxy II and excelling with the First Team,” said LA Galaxy head coach and sporting director Greg Vanney in a club statement. “As we continue to evolve as a club, we’re leaning heavily into the LA Galaxy Academy development side. We are going to help develop players who can play at the biggest clubs in the World, but can also help the LA Galaxy win championships. We wish Julián all the best in the next phase of his career.”
Transfermarkt understands that Araujo is going to join Barcelona immediately, even though there is a chance that the Mexican will not be able to play until next summer. Barcelona originally wanted to loan the 21-year-old back to the Galaxy but Major League Soccer regulations and salary cap charges made such a deal impossible. There were also teams interested from leagues that still have an open transfer window, but Barça would prefer to keep the player even without registration. Sources have also told Transfermarkt that a Bundesliga side was interested but LA Galaxy rejected that offer.
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Developed by the Galaxy, Araujo first broke into the first team in 2019 and has since made 109 appearances for the Galaxy across all competitions (two goals and 14 assists). In that time, Araujo has seen his market value grow to €6m, making him the most valuable right-back in Major League Soccer. In fact, at the Galaxy, only Spanish midfielder Riqui Puig (€7m) has a bigger market value than Araujo.
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