Barcelona confirm £8.5m sale of young defender

Barcelona have confirmed the departure of right-back Julian Araujo, who has joined Bournemouth for €10m (£8.5m).

Araujo, 22, spent last season on loan with Las Palmas and was reported to be keen to force his way into Hansi Flick's plans at Barcelona this season, only to find himself well down in the pecking order during pre-season.

Bournemouth opened talks over a deal earlier this month and Barcelona have now confirmed Araujo's €10m switch to the Premier League.

"I wanted to do pre-season with Barcelona and respect my contract, but once I heard the opportunity that came up, I told my agent to stop our negotiations with other teams," Araujo said.

"I found it very exciting. I had a conversation with the coach and the sporting director and everything sounded very exciting to me."

Araujo failed to make an appearance for Barcelona following his 2023 switch from LA Galaxy but did score twice during his loan spell with Las Palmas last season.

"FC Barcelona publicly expresses its gratitude to Araujo for his dedication and commitment and wishes him every success in the future," a short club statement read.

Barcelona are expected to promote 18-year-old Hector Fort to the senior side next season to help out at right-back, but talks remain ongoing with Manchester City over a deal to re-sign Joao Cancelo either on loan or permanently.

Jules Kounde and Ronald Araujo both spent time at right-back under ex-boss Xavi. The former started Flick's first pre-season game at right-back but it is 20-year-old left-back Alex Valle who has seen most of the minutes in the recent friendlies.

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