After a deadline day saga in the January transfer window, Barcelona are set to complete the signing of Mexican right-back Julian Araujo from LA Galaxy, reports Fabrizio Romano.
Barcelona made a late move in the winter to sign the 21-year-old from the MLS outfit. An agreement over a €4 million deal was reached swiftly and personal terms were also sorted out.
However, the Catalans missed the deadline to submit the necessary documents for the transfer by a mere 18 seconds. While they appealed to FIFA, the governing body did not authorise the deal, leaving Araujo in limbo as he could not return to the MLS either.
Barcelona thus turned to the Court of Arbitration for SPORT (CAS) to authorise the transfer. If they did not win the appeal in the CAS, the plan was to loan Araujo to a different club for the rest of the season or have him train with the reserves until the summer when he could be signed officially.
But, it seems like the deal has been approved and Araujo will be arriving in Catalonia tomorrow to finalise the transfer. The 21-year-old Mexican international will be signing a contract with Barcelona until 2026.
It is expected that the youngster will be linking up with Barça Atletic but will be called up to the senior team as and when required.
With Araujo set to sign and Barcelona set to renew the contract of Sergi Roberto, whether it changes their plans to sign a new right-back in the summer will be interesting to see.
