Liverpool have signed the Barcelona and Uruguay centre-back Ronald Araujo on a season-long loan, with an option to buy the 27-year-old for around £47.14m (€55m) next summer. Liverpool are not paying Barcelona a loan fee and will cover Araujo's wages for the duration of the loan, with the defender taking a pay cut to facilitate the move. He has been given the number 33 shirt and is due to train with his new team-mates this week.
The move addresses a centre-back crisis that has built through pre-season under new head coach Andoni Iraola, who gave the deal the go-ahead and spoke to Araujo by phone before his move to England. Ibrahima Konate left for Real Madrid as a free agent this summer, Joe Gomez was forced off with a muscle injury in Liverpool's opening pre-season fixture, and Giovanni Leoni remains months away from a return from an ACL injury. Jeremy Jacquet, signed from Rennes in February, is yet to make a competitive appearance following a shoulder injury. That has left captain Virgil van Dijk as Iraola's only fully fit senior centre-back, with Araujo, who can also cover at right-back, adding depth in both problem positions.
"I can't wait to get started. I'm very, very happy," Araujo told Liverpool's official website. "I'm excited to be here at this massive club with lots of history. I'm excited to meet my team-mates, excited to get started playing, and I'm very motivated and really up for getting going. It was the ideal move for me at this stage in my career. I think it was a move that was necessary for me to take. As soon as I heard that interest from Liverpool, everything went into action really, really quickly." Van Dijk, who Araujo will partner at the heart of Liverpool's defence, said: "Any player that arrives at the club we will be welcoming."
Araujo joined Barcelona from Uruguay in 2018, progressing through the club's B team, and made more than 200 appearances for the first team. He was made one of Barcelona's captains after Marc-Andre ter Stegen's exit in January, but his game time shrank last season under head coach Hansi Flick, who preferred Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia and Gerard Martin at the heart of defence. He was sent off in Champions League defeats by Paris Saint-Germain and Chelsea, and took an extended break last season to prioritise his mental health. "I had anxiety for 18 months and it became depression," he later told Mundo Deportivo.