Man Utd 'prepared to double wages' of Barcelona star linked to Bayern Munich

Manchester United are prepared to double the wages of Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo, according to reports in Spain.

The 25-year-old has two years remaining on his contract in Catalonia and has regularly been linked with a move away as the club continue to struggle financially.

Bayern Munich are long-term admirers of Araujo, who has previously been valued around the €100m (£86m) mark, but there's been no formal attempts to try and prise the Uruguayan away from his current employers.

United are looking to strengthen their options at centre-back following the release of Raphael Varane, and Spanish publication SPORT claim that the 13-time Premier League winners are 'putting a lot of pressure' on Araujo to convince him to join the club.

It's alleged that the Red Devils are prepared to double the salary currently earned by Araujo, who Barcelona, despite their financial woes, would rather keep and tie down to a new and improved long-term contract.

Barcelona's proposal is said to fall short of what United can offer though, and the club's self-imposed deadline of tying Araujo down to a new deal by June 30 looks likely to pass by.

Bayern have previously talked to Araujo in a bid to convince him to join, but he's remained loyal to Barcelona's cause and continues to be an important member of their squad. Whether or not the proposed departure of Matthijs de Ligt from the Allianz Arena changes the situation remains to be seen.

Could Araujo actually join Man Utd?

ANALYSIS

The fact that Manchester United are unwilling to meet Everton's £70m valuation of Jarrad Branthwaite would suggest that a move for Araujo just isn't going to happen.

United's new regime intend to move away from rash decision making in the transfer market and extracting full value for money is one of the key remits for technical director Jason Wilcox and incoming sporting driector Dan Ashworth. Araujo simply doesn't fit the bill, regardless of his current ability and likelihood to improve.

Add into the mix that United also need to sign a high quality central midfielder and centre forward, simply to provide sterner competition for places, and the chances of blowing a stack of cash on Araujo reduce further.

Barcelona, for their part, seem more inclined to ship out some of their valuable forward options. Raphinha is almost certainly on the chopping block and you'd imagine Ferran Torres and Ansu Fati will also be readily available - certainly before Araujo, who is part of the club's leadership group and is in fact one of the best in the world in his position.

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