Ronald Araujo's Copa America injury confirmed by Uruguay statement

Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo is confirmed to have suffered a muscle injury while on international duty with Uruguay at the Copa America.

Araujo was withdrawn just 33 minutes into Uruguay's quarter-final clash with Brazil at the weekend. His team went on to prevail on penalties against the heavily favoured Selecao, but the 25-year-old's tournament is already over.

A statement from the Uruguayan Football Association (AUF) explained: "In the quarter-final match of the 2024 Copa America against Brazil, footballer Ronald Araujo had to be substituted due to a physical problem. After the studies were carried out, it was confirmed that it was a muscle injury."

In the wake of the game, reports estimated a two-month layoff for Araujo, who was promoted into Barcelona's captains group last season. That would rule him out of action until early September.

Araujo suffered a similar hamstring problem last August, while he missed a considerable number of games in 2022/23 through absences with calf and hip muscle injuries.

The centre-back looks set to miss all of pre-season, including friendlies against Manchester City, Real Madrid and AC Milan in the United States. If recovery estimates are correct, he is likely to be out until the September international break, which also means missing Barcelona's first four games of the new La Liga season – against Valencia, Athletic Club, Rayo Vallecano and Real Valladolid.

The injury comes as a setback for new Barcelona head coach Hansi Flick as he gets to understand the squad at his disposal and figure out the way he wants to play and his ideal team.

La Masia graduate Pau Cubarsi became a key member of the first-team midway through last season. Andreas Christensen, Inigo Martinez, Eric Garcia and Jules Kounde are the other centre-backs at the club. Clement Lenglet has also returned from two years out on loan but isn't expected to stay.

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