It’s an open secret that Bayern have been working hard to sign Ronald Araujo from FC Barcelona this winter. It has now been revealed that the Catalans have rejected two mega offers from the German record champions for the centre-back.
Ronald Araujo was considered Thomas Tuchel’s absolute favourite player in the winter. According to reports, the 50-year-old did everything in his power to lure the Uruguayan to the Isar. Bayern were also apparently prepared to go to their financial limits for the 24-year-old.
As the Spanish sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo claims to have learnt, FC Bayern approached FC Barcelona twice last winter with a concrete offer. Both times they were turned down.
Bayern allegedly offered up to 90 million euros for Araujo
According to Mundo Deportivo, the German record champions‘ last offer was just under 90 million euros. munich offered 80 million euros as a fixed basic transfer fee and a further ten in the form of variable bonus payments. This would have made Araujo one of the most expensive defenders in the world.
According to Sky, Bayern are still interested in Araujo and could make another attempt in the summer. It will be interesting to see whether and how Thomas Tuchel’s departure will affect the Araujo situation. After all, the outgoing FCB coach was the driving force behind the intensive endeavours in the winter.
After the Araujo deal fell through, Bayern signed Eric Dier from Tottenham Hotspur. The Englishman’s loan contract, which originally only ran until the summer of 2024, has now been extended until 2025 according to consistent reports. With Dier, Matthijs de Ligt, Dayot Upamecano and Minjae Kim, FCB now have four regular centre-backs in their current squad.
