Barcelona defender to receive medical discharge on Friday ahead of Espanyol clash

The past three months have been difficult for Ronald Araujo as he has been unable to represent Barcelona or Uruguay due to an injury.

The 23-year-old suffered a thigh injury in September while on international duty with Uruguay in a friendly encounter against Iran. The defender opted to undergo surgery to treat the injury, following which it was reported that he would be out of action for two to three months.

But with the World Cup approaching, Araujo stepped up his recovery plans and pushed himself to join Uruguay’s camp in Qatar, which Barcelona allowed him to do, as long as La Celeste did not rush his return.

The situation led to a lot of tension between Barça and the Uruguayan Football Federation, although ultimately Araujo did not play in the World Cup with the South American giants getting eliminated in the group stages.

Having returned to the club’s Ciutat Esportiva complex after an extended vacation, Araujo continued to work on his recovery and finally resumed group training this past week.

And now, Javi Miguel of AS is reporting that the 23-year-old centre-back will be receiving his medical discharge from the Barcelona staff, after a total of 98 days on the sidelines.

It will be a huge boost for Barça considering the form that Araujo has been in over the past 12-18 months, establishing himself as one of the leaders of the club’s defensive unit.

The medical green light will come just in time for the Blaugrana’s derby encounter against RCD Espanyol at Camp Nou, which is scheduled to go down on Saturday. However, Araujo’s medical discharge does not mean that he will be in contention to start against Espanyol.

Given his lengthy absence, it will not be surprising to see Xavi ease him back into action rather than thrust him into the spotlight right away. But, Araujo’s impending medical clearance is a great boost for Barcelona.