How Liverpool could seal a more exciting signing than Ronald Araujo

In the wake of Liverpool‘s 3-2 pre-season defeat against Monaco, Andoni Iraola‘s comments were sobering, if not surprising.

Liverpool have been a mixed bag over the past month. There have been plenty of positives for Iraola to take from his new side’s summer efforts in the United States, but after impressive wins over Sunderland and Wrexham, the Reds have seen two-goal leads slip in successive games against Leeds United and Monaco.

Iraola criticised his team’s sub-par fitness levels, currently beneath the standard he demands to see his system fire on all cylinders. So diametrically opposed to Arne Slot’s take on tactics, it’s understandable that the former Bournemouth manager should encounter teething problems at this early stage.

A number of superstars have only just returned. This is a team in transition. Moreover, FSG still need to get a number of deals over the line.

How Ronald Araujo can expand Iraola’s vision

Araujo, 27, has at points throughout his career been described as a world-class defender, a core part of Barcelona’s defensive line. However, he has been anything but inconsistent over the past several years, both in terms of maintaining fitness and form on the field.

REUTERS/Pablo Morano

A physical menace with a ball-playing ability fostered over so many years in Catalonia, the expected loan signing (with a £47m buy option) of Uruguay international Araujo makes a lot of sense: he is experienced and, having worn the armband plenty at Camp Nou, a natural leader. He will help ferry young prospects Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet from the fringes to starring roles, jockeying for a place alongside Virgil van Dijk.

Araujo’s fitness record does indeed leave much to be desired. He will not reach the 38-game mark at the end of the Premier League season. And yet, he is a winner; he has played at the very highest level and once been described as “one of the best in the world” by Barca boss Hansi Flick.

At the very least, Araujo will secure for Liverpool a more structured defensive base. Iraola’s backline will deepen, for he can fill in at right-back too.

However, it should go without saying that the Merseysiders need to ring further changes after last year’s many mishaps.

After Araujo: Liverpool agree personal terms with superstar signing

Araujo provides a pragmatic solution to Liverpool’s defensive issues. But the squad is still sapped in midfield and attack, with Mohamed Salah’s departure in particular leaving the frontline desperate for some superstar quality.

Victor Munoz is in the thick of it at Anfield, but the 23-year-old Spain winger is a work in progress. According to Fabrizio Romano, Bradley Barcola has given Liverpool the final green light on personal terms, though the Reds and Paris Saint-Germain are still a distance apart in agreeing a price tag.

It might feel like sporting director Richard Hughes is twiddling his thumbs, but this is far from the case. PSG are being obstinate in their £145m demands, and Liverpool simply won’t go that high. Thus, the Ligue 1 champions will need to meet them somewhere in the middle, and that’s not going to happen while their pursuit of Mika Godts and Ferran Torres remains ongoing.

REUTERS/Sam Navarro

Many variables are at play, but each party remains confident that a deal could be done. The Frenchman might be rather expensive, but he has been a mainstay for an indomitable PSG side who have wrapped up back-to-back Champions League titles and many more in France.

His pace and potency down the left flank marks him as being “perfect for Andoni Iraola’s style of football“, bringing the kind of intensity and edge that was lacking under Slot’s wing last year – and indeed over the past few weeks in pre-season.

Barcola might be profligate, but the fact that he has still scored so many goals over the past couple of years emphasises his potential as a Salah-esque attacking “superstar“, as he has been named by analyst Filipe Sousa.

In this, he could trump all the rest of them and establish himself as Liverpool’s marquee man this summer, not just in regard to his price tag, but the impact and influence that he could spread across Anfield’s pitch over the coming years.

Araujo is a pragmatic signing, to be sure, but Barcola would be a purchase of immense potential, someone who could shape and define the Iraola era.

Barcola would not solve all of Liverpool’s problems, but unlike Araujo, he has a real chance to become a talismanic presence for a transitional Liverpool side who still have their eye on football’s biggest prizes.