Liverpool have agreed a season-long loan for the Barcelona and Uruguay centre-back Ronald Araujo, with the move understood to include an option to buy around £47.14m (€55m). The 27-year-old is due to arrive in England on Sunday to undergo a medical before the deal is finalised.
The move addresses a centre-back crisis that has built through pre-season under Liverpool's new head coach, Andoni Iraola. 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 serious shoulder injury; he asked to be substituted in last week's friendly against Leeds, with Iraola saying afterwards: "It was just some overload, and I hope he's not injured in that way. I don't think we've lost anyone." That has left captain Virgil van Dijk as Iraola's only fully fit senior centre-back heading into the new season, with Araujo, who can also cover at right-back, adding depth in both problem positions.
Araujo joined Barcelona from Uruguay in 2018, progressing through the club's B team, and has 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 under head coach Hansi Flick last season, with only 11 LaLiga starts. He took an extended break from football in November 2025 to focus on his mental health, later revealing he had been dealing with depression. With Barcelona's centre-back options strengthened this summer by Pau Cubarsi, Eric Garcia, Gerard Martin and Andreas Christensen, it is understood Araujo accepted Liverpool's proposal after concluding he would not get the playing time he wanted this season.