Changes will be expected at FC Barcelona this summer, and not necessarily minor ones. La Blaugrana have just suffered a disappointing season, and they are not willing to let things stay as they are. As a consequence of this thinking, Barcelona is expected to shake things up for the upcoming season.
Among those shake ups is the change of the Barcelona head coach, with Xavi Hernandez now set to depart from the club. In his stead, many now believe Hansi Flick will be the coach who takes Barcelona to where they wish to be come next season. However, a direct ripple of this managerial change could be positive for a certain Barcelona defender.
According to MARCA, the appointment of Hansi Flick now makes it easier for Barcelona captain and defender Ronald Araujo to renew with the team. The change of the Barça head coach provides him with more clarity, and makes his continuity at the club a lot more possible than it was a few weeks ago.
Various reports have recently stated that the Uruguayan defender was sent a renewal proposal by Barcelona not too long ago, but no response managed to arrive. Already knowing that things are complicated, Barça ultimately understood that the player has certain issues with Xavi Hernandez as well.
For the player, as per the report, these issues were fully realized when Araujo got expelled from the field against Paris Saint-Germain. The Barcelona defender was heavily criticised and not even Xavi came to his defense, something that Araujo was particularly frustrated about.
Beyond just that personal issue with the coach, one that could be seen in the mere fact that Xavi was refraining from deploying Araujo in any of the recent games as a starter, choosing to instead trust the quality and services of Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi.
Moreover, to be fair to them, they managed to hold their own rather well while representing Barcelona.
With Flick coming in now, however, the Barcelona captain may rethink his options. While it remains true that other top European clubs are willing to offer him more economically sound offers, Araujo would now be willing to listen to the Catalans.
However, the player still wishes to fight for silverware, something that he sees as an unlikely possibility at Barcelona given their financial limitations and the improvements that other teams around them have made.
