£13m/year Liverpool star must now leave after Araujo deal to make space for Barcola

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Liverpool have signed Ronald Araujo on loan from Barcelona with the option to buy in 2027, but the signing means Cdoy Gakpo now needs to be sold to make space for Bradley Barcola. Fabrizio Romano first broke the news of Araujo’s loan move to Anfield before other top journalists followed suit, with Liverpool fans surprised at both the decision to sign the 27-year-old and the lack of links before the announcement.

The journalist reports: “After a turbulent year on a personal level, Araujo wanted this to be his year at Barcelona. Within a day, the deal was done — Liverpool agreed to cover the player’s wages and the defender’s agent travelled to meet with Barca’s sporting director Deco.” Why Araujo signing means a non-homegrown player needs to be sold to make space for Bradley Barcola Araujo’s arrival on Merseyside may not be the unanimously popular decision that sporting director Richard Hughes would have hoped for, but the Uruguayan solves a number of headaches for Andoni Iraola, with his £9.4m wages being the only major cost involved aside from the undisclosed loan fee Liverpool will pay to Barcelona.

Liverpool had one remaining slot to register non-homegrown players this summer, and Araujo now makes that zero. Michael first started supporting Liverpool after Istanbul in 2006.