Xavi’s possible options at right-back following Ronald Araujo’s injury – report

Barcelona were dealt with some bad news on Thursday as it emerged that key defender Ronald Araujo had sustained a thigh injury.

As a result of it, the Uruguayan international is set to be out of action for at least a month and will miss the upcoming three La Liga games against Cadiz, Villarreal, and Osasuna at the very least.

It comes as a big blow for manager Xavi Hernandez as he will be without one of his most trusted lieutenants for the next few games.

A key player for Barça, Araujo had been utilised at right-back by Xavi since pre-season due to Jules Kounde’s reluctance to continue in that position and a lack of more reliable alternatives.

The Blaugrana are scouring the market for a new right-back and are closing in on Joao Cancelo’s signing from Manchester City.

But the deal is still not done and as such, Xavi will have to find alternatives for the right-back spot for the upcoming game against Cadiz and possibly beyond that if the Cancelo situation continues to drag on.

Xavi’s options to fill in at right-back

And, as per Mundo Deportivo’s Jordi Batalla, manager Xavi would have three options at his disposal to fill in for the injured Araujo at right-back against Cadiz.

Sergino Dest would have been a choice, but the USMNT star is staring at an uncertain future at the club and has not been registered yet. As such, he would not be under consideration for the right-back slot.

That leaves Xavi with first captain Sergi Roberto, Kounde, and young Alejandro Balde as options for the right-back position.

Roberto has played as a right-sided full-back for years now, but has not always been convincing. Moreover, Xavi sees his captain as more of a midfielder and has been a bit reluctant to deploy him at the back in the recent past.

As such, Kounde could be forced to start as a makeshift right-back again despite his unwillingness to play in that position. In that scenario, Eric Garcia and Andreas Christensen could start as the centre-backs.

Balde, meanwhile, could be a left-field choice for Xavi, with the manager having used the academy graduate at right-back on some occasions last season.

But with Marcos Alonso still not registered, it is unlikely that the academy left-back could be pushed out to the opposite flank.