Confirmed: Barcelona star no longer available for €65m

Barcelona are looking to sell a number of first team players in the coming weeks, but the chances of one of them leaving has now dropped significantly.

Barcelona need to raise funds, and lower their wage bill, in order to be able to return to La Liga’s 1:1 rule, which will allow new signings to be registered for the new season. The likes of Marc-Andre Ter Stegen, Andreas Christensen and Ronald Araujo have emerged as possible candidates to depart, but in the case of the latter, he is now much closer to remaining at the club.

Earlier this year, Araujo signed a new contract with Barcelona, having U-turned on his decision to seek a move away. And as part of that agreement, his release clause for the first two weeks of the summer transfer window would be reduced to €60m, thus enticing clubs to activate it. But in the end, no one did, and as confirmed by Fabrizio Romano, this has now gone away.

Release clause reset is bad news for Andreas Christensen

Araujo’s release clause has now returned to €1bn, meaning that any club that wishes to sign him will need to negotiate with Barcelona. In turn, it means that an exit is less likely, especially given that sporting director Deco is determined to hang on to the Uruguayan defender, whom he rates very highly.

Barcelona want to sell one centre-back this summer, and if Araujo stays, it means that Andreas Christensen is likely to depart. The Denmark international barely played last season due to recurring injury problems, and with only a year left on his current contract, his future looks uncertain.

So far, there has been no concrete moves made by any clubs interested in Christensen, but if they do arrive, Barcelona are expected to give the go-ahead of a deal to be done – provided that their asking price is met. However, there could still be problems, with the player himself having little interest in leaving.