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Arsenal have made an approach to Barcelona centre-back Ronald Araujo, and are prepared to pay him more than double the current offer on the table to renew his contract with the Catalans.
Barcelona are keen to tie him down to a new long term deal, but the two sides are currently some way apart when it comes to terms, and the player is reported to be disappointed by what they are willing to pay him. They are prepared to offer him €4 million (£3.3 million) but he wants parity with some of the club’s top earners like Pedri and Ansu Fati.
He has just 16 months left on his current contract, which means that Barcelona have a decision to make in the summer. Keep him for the final year and hope some compromise can be found in terms of a package that he is willing to accept, or listen to the offers that will come in for him, with Arsenal among a host of clubs tracking his situation.
Andy is an exiled English football fan living in Cyprus. He loves all sports but football is his abiding passion, and he still has dreams every now and then about scoring the winning goal in a Wembley Cup Final, even though his playing days are long gone. He follows most major leagues, across Europe at least, and has a favoured team in each. When he’s not watching, listening, reading or downloading podcasts about football, he spend his time worrying about his beloved Arsenal.