Rudiger replacement? Chelsea make tempting offer to Barcelona defender

With three attackers signed in the winter, the backline remains Barcelona’s biggest problem. Gerard Pique has been the leader of the defence for more than a decade but turned 35 recently. While Clement Lenglet, Samuel Umtiti, and Oscar Mingueza are not fit enough to carve out a starting role for themselves.

Which leaves the club with Eric Garcia and Ronald Araujo. The former has had an inconsistent start to life back in Catalonia, while the latter has continued to massively step up his game. He is inarguably the club’s best defender, but his contract expires in the summer of 2023.

A lot of clubs, especially those in the Premier League, have Araujo on their radar. His contract situation coupled with a very interesting mix as a modern ball-playing defender with old school grit makes him a very lucrative signing.

According to SPORT, Chelsea have made a tempting offer to him, which has set off alarm bells at Barcelona.

The Blues’ think of the Uruguayan as the ideal candidate to replace Antonio Rudiger, who is expected to leave as a free agent in the summer of 2022.

Further, with Andreas Christensen and Cesar Azpilicueta on Barça’s radar, it seems like this could turn into a swap deal, the Blaugranes would not want to engage in.

That said, Araujo’s priority is to stay in the Catalan capital under the condition that he gets a significant salary raise. As the lowest-paid defender in the team, his salary does not even come close to reflecting his prominence in the side.

Barcelona will need to ramp up their efforts to renew the 22-year-old now massively, but the ball is still in their court.