With Aston Villa hovering for ambitious signing, star may have played farewell game

Two days ago, Sport stated Aston Villa have informed Barcelona of their intention to table a formal offer for Ronald Araújo in the summer window, on condition of selling Diego Carlos first.

A fresh report from Sport brings the latest on the 25-year-old’s Barca future and also mentions Aston Villa’s interest.

The Uruguay international has seen his game time restricted in the past weeks because of a knee problem. He came off the bench in his side’s 3-0 win over Rayo Vallecano last weekend.

Araújo is unlikely to feature against Sevilla on Sunday, in order to avoid a setback ahead of the Copa América. Returning, to his future, Sport say he may have already played his last match for the Catalan club.

Aston Villa and Bayern Munich are named as the defender’s interested parties, and Barca have identified him as one of the main candidates to help them raise funds.

Xavi Hernández and sporting director Deco are keen on retaining the player and even he wants to continue at the Camp Nou. However, Barca’s financial needs could force otherwise.

A note of caution for Aston Villa would be the player’s injury history, and that would surely be something they’d look into.