Barcelona director confirms signing that had melted in the last window

After the end of the January transfer window, the director of football at BarcelonaMateu Alemany, confirmed to the newspaper Sport that the club has an agreement for the purchase of right-back Julián Araujo, who plays for LA Galaxy, from MLS.

The Catalan team was negotiating until the last minutes of the window to sign the 21-year-old. Araujo would join Barça’s B team, but the club failed to register him in a timely manner, delaying the transfer at the time. However, the director claims that the athlete already belongs to the team.

Barça director Alemany on Julián Araujo deal: “We have been following Julián Araujo for a long time. We’ve sent an appeal to CAS regarding his case”. 🔵🔴🇲🇽 #FCB

“If it’s gonna be rejected, Araújo will play 5 months elsewhere and then join Barça Atlétic”. pic.twitter.com/UQvX9n9K8F

— Fabrizio Romano (@FabrizioRomano) February 9, 2023

“He is a player that we have been following for a long time who, due to circumstances, due to a failure in the Fifa system, could not be closed. The famous 18 seconds. He was a player who came to the second team. We have him and we are looking for a solution”, he said.

SEE MORE: Barcelona failed to sign Mexican Araujo “for 18 seconds”

After having the transfer request denied by Fifa, the Catalans try to appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) to make the transfer possible. If you don’t get the defender formalized, Barcelona will only be able to register the player in official competitions from June.

Araujo has been playing for the LA Galaxy’s first team since 2019. The winger has already played 111 games for the team, with two goals scored and 14 assists given. Despite being born in the United States, the athlete chose to defend the Mexican national team.