La Liga giants, Barcelona have officially announced the signing of Julian Araujo from MLS outfit LA Galaxy.
Barcelona had missed out on signing Araujo on January transfer deadline day as they were 18 seconds late in registering the paperwork, but they said earlier this month they would appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to get the player registered.
Late on Friday, February 17, LA Galaxy head coach and sporting director Greg Vanney confirmed Araujo’s move to Barcelona, saying that it is a great story of a young kid who excelled with LA Galaxy.
He said;
“Julian joining FC Barcelona is a great story of a young kid from Southern California coming into the LA Galaxy Academy, through LA Galaxy II and excelling with the first team.”
Araujo signed a 3-1/2-year contract which would run till the end of the 2025-26 season. The 21-year-old won’t be able to play for Barcelona’s first team this season and will start with the B-Team, which is currently coached by Rafa Marquez. The Mexican has told Relevo that he could be part of the first-team set-up next season.
📌 Acord amb LA Galaxy per al traspas de 𝗝𝘂𝗹𝗶𝗮́𝗻 𝗔𝗿𝗮𝘂𝗷𝗼
✍ El jugador s’incorpora al 𝗕𝗮𝗿𝗰̧𝗮 𝗔𝘁𝗹𝗲̀𝘁𝗶𝗰 i signa fins al 30 de juny del 2⃣0⃣2⃣6⃣
🙌 Benvingut, @julian__araujo !#ForçaBarça 💙❤
— Barça Atlètic (@FCBarcelonaB) February 17, 2023
A two-time MLS All-Star (2021-22), Araujo quickly established himself as one of the league’s most promising talents. He made his professional debut with LA Galaxy as a 17-year-old in 2019 and leaves the club with one goal and 20 assists in 100 regular-season games. Araujo played in 39 games last season with 35 starts. He had one goal with a career-high nine assists.
