Former Barcelona director wants to sign club captain for Saudi Arabian team

Just a while back, we reported that Barcelona defender Jules Kounde had emerged as a transfer target for Al-Ittihad.

The Saudi Arabian club have former Barcelona transfer chief Ramon Planes as their sporting director. The 56-year-old has an intimate knowledge of the Catalans’ squad as well as their current financial predicament.

As such, Planes and Al-Ittihad have set their sights on the Blaugrana to reinforce their defensive department in the summer.

Planes would prefer Araujo

While Kounde has emerged as a target, MARCA reports that Ramon Planes would prefer to sign a different Barcelona defender, Ronald Araujo, at Al-Ittihad.

After all, it was Planes who brought the Uruguayan international to Barça from Boston River back in 2018 and has continued to follow his career progression with a keen eye.

Ramon Planes would like to sign Araujo at Al-Ittihad. (Photo by JOSEP LAGO/AFP via Getty Images)

While Planes likes the idea of reuniting with Araujo in Saudi Arabia, the operation is seen as very difficult to pull off.

For starters, Barcelona do not intend to sell the Uruguayan international and would only consider offloading him if an exorbitant offer were to arrive.

Furthermore, Araujo has always stated that he is happy at Barça and desires to succeed at the club, making a move to Saudi, especially at this stage of his career, extremely unlikely.

However, it must be noted that talks over a new contract for the Catalans’ second captain have not been progressing a great deal, which has led to speculations over his future.

But new manager Hansi Flick has made it clear to the Blaugrana that he wants Araujo in his team and has asked the club to renew his deal as a priority.

Source link : https://barcauniversal.com/former-barcelona-director-wants-to-sign-club-captain-for-saudi-arabian-team/

Author : Michel Durant

Publish date : 2024-06-07 13:46:07

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