FC Barcelona are currently training in Los Angeles as the team is visiting the United States of America for their pre-season tour. However, some of the club’s players are not with the rest of the squad for various reasons.
One such player is the right-back Julian Araujo, who, according to Toni Juanmartí, was given an additional week of vacation because of his participation in the CONCACAF Gold Cup with Mexico and is not expected to join the rest of the squad during the pre-season tour.
The player emerged victorious in the tournament with his national team but is yet to convince Xavi. As a result, Xavi is also expecting the player to find another club while this vacation lasts.
The case of Julian Araujo at Barcelona has been quite suspicious. The Catalan club paid €4 million for the fullback to LA Galaxy in the last winter transfer window to sign him for a four-year contract. However, he could not be registered by Barcelona in time, which has kept the player from making an official debut with his new club yet.
Till now, the player has played only in the Vissel Kobe friendly, which was held at the end of last season, and the only other occasion that the club’s supporters caught a glimpse of him was when he was vigorously celebrating the team’s La Liga triumph celebrations.
Despite the lack of a natural right-back in the squad, Xavi is not counting upon Araujo as he has not been able to convince the head coach in training yet.
Thus, the gaffer believes he will have to play Jules Kounde once again at the right-back position in the upcoming season unless a high-profile signing like Joao Cancelo can be made. Other players like Pablo Maffeo and Ivan Fresneda have also not been completely ruled out, and they can also solve this right-back problem for Xavi.
