JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA - JANUARY 12: Inaki Pena and Ronald Araujo of FC Barcelona celebrate with the Supercopa de Espana trophy during the trophy presentation after the Spanish Super Cup Final between Real Madrid and FC Barcelona at King Abdullah Sports City on January 12, 2025 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

Barcelona block direct rivals from signing club captain at cut-price release clause

Photo by Yasser Bakhsh/Getty Images

Although there were not a lot of changes in the FC Barcelona squad in the recently closed winter transfer window, the Blaugranes still met most of their objectives for the month of January. For instance, they were able to get Dani Olmo and Pau Victor registered, albeit only after a court order, and also renewed several important players.

One of these players whose contracts they renewed was Ronald Araujo, who had been involved in a complicated negotiation process for quite a while with the Catalan club. His new contract now assures his presence at the club till 2031.

However, even this renewal has not been able to remove the uncertainty surrounding the Barcelona captain’s future, as now there is a lot of speculation about his release clause.

Initial media reports suggested that there had been a significant decrease in his release clause, from €1 billion in his previous contract to €65 million in his new contract.

Then reports emerged claiming that his standard release clause would still be €1 billion, but it will go down to €70 million for the first 10 days of July this year. This would allow the defender to leave if he is not satisfied with his role in the Barcelona squad, but after 10th July, the release clause would revert back to €1 billion.

Now, SPORT reports that another journalist, Miguel Rico, claims that his release clause has actually been lowered, and lies between €65-75 million.

However, this is not the release clause for all the clubs, as Araujo’s contract excludes the likes of Real Madrid, Paris Saint Germain, Manchester City, Chelsea, and Bayern Munich from activating this release clause.

For these sides, the defender’s release clause would still be high, around €300-400 million, but other clubs, like those from Saudi Arabia or some Premier League sides, will still be able to land the Uruguayan without negotiating with Barcelona.

Thus, the Blaugranes have already taken steps to ensure that their direct rivals are not able to get their star defender for cheap, while still keeping a way open for him to leave if he wanted to.

Tags Ronald Araujo

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