Barcelona defensive starlet close to loan exit, seen as an ‘important asset’ for future – report

When Barcelona were in dire need of a new right-back in the winter transfer window of the 2022-23 campaign, Julian Araujo arose as a possible candidate. His name generated doubt from the get-go given his lack of experience at the highest level, but Barcelona pursued his signing anyway.

After an action-packed and confusing deadline day, the Catalans got the deal over the line, only to be informed that they were seconds late in completing the paperwork. The player would not be able to join the first-team dynamics until the summer and was asked to train with the subsidiary team.

The 2022-23 campaign is now past us, and Araujo would be training under Xavi Hernandez’s commands to try and win a spot in the team in an ideal situation. However, that is far from the case.

Barcelona see the Mexican star as an important asset for the future but believe that he is in need of more experience before playing for the Blaugrana shirt.

The club have been working on the operation for a while now, with several options from Spain and the Netherlands on its table.

According to reports from MARCA, the young full-back is now very close to signing for Las Palmas. The Azulgranas see the newly-promoted team as the ideal place for him to continue his development and consider him an asset for the future.

Garcia Pimienta’s side have been openly interested in the youngster over the past week, but reports brought to light that the Mexican was fully focused on the upcoming USA tour to prove his worth to the manager.

However, Araujo has now changed his stance and is willing to leave on loan, which means that he is now inching close to signing for Las Palmas on a season-long loan deal.

The 21-year-old made 35 appearances for LA Galaxy in the 2022 season of the MLS, scoring one goal and providing five assists in the process. Further, he averaged 1.2 key passes per game and created six big chances.

The Mexican ace will hope that he can play regularly and get some valuable experience under his belt from the stint with the newly-promoted La Liga side.