SOCCER
An 18 second delay prevented Barcelona from signing Julian Araujo
The director of football at FC Barcelona, Mateu Alemany, told Movistar that a computer system error complicated the signing for the Galaxy defender.
It has been a roller coaster of emotions for Julian Araujo in the past 24 hours as FC Barcelona was trying to sign him on a three-and-a-half year contract before the transfer window closed on 31 January. The Spanish giants director of football, Mateu Alemany, told Movistar that the signing of the Mexican-American was delayed by 18 seconds due to a computer system error and it was not completed on time.
What is next for Aruajo?
There is still hope for the Los Angeles Galaxy product to fulfill his dream of playing in Europe because Barcelona expect FIFA’s response to arrive tomorrow. The La Liga side waited until the last minute to make a bid for Julian Araujo because they needed to complete the transfer of Héctor Bellerín to Sporting CP first.
Once it was completed, they went on to pursue the signing of the Mexican-American full-back and negotiation took some time with the LA Galaxy, who rejected the first bid. The MLS side wanted to retain Julian Araujo for the 2023 season, but Barcelona and the player pushed for the deal to go through.
It has been reported that the 21-year-old was going to join Barcelona B first, who is currently managed by Rafael Márquez, and was going to go to the first team whenever he is needed. The La Liga side was going to pay the Galaxy $6.5 million for his transfer and Araujo was going to sign until 2026.