Ronald Araujo, after renewing his contract with Barça

BARÇA CLOSED HIS RENEWAL THIS THURSDAY

Ronald Araujo reveals his reasons for staying at Barça: "We have the Champions League pending"

Published:23/01/2025 - 22:21h

Updated:23/01/2025 - 22:21h

Ronald Araujo shared his first impressions after renewing for six more years with FC Barcelona. For the center-back, the affection from the people and the club was decisive for his decision

Calendar of FC Barcelona

FC Barcelona closed the renewal of Ronald Araujo this Thursday. The 25-year-old center-back signed for five more seasons, until June 2031, and after officially extending his contract, he talked about the reasons why he ruled out leaving the club mid-season. Juventus had been after him for two weeks, but finally Barça managed to finalize his renewal after several days of intense negotiations.

In this regard, he valued the trust of the board and the affection from both the fans and his teammates. "You can feel the trust of the club and that is important because it means you are doing things right", began saying the '4' culé in an interview for the club's media. "It is something tremendous to renew with Barça, to continue many more years. The truth is that it is an enormous happiness, I worked hard for this", he added.

Additionally, he revealed how important the fans were in defining his new contract. "The people on the street were telling me: stay, stay and that was something tremendous, since I arrived I felt an enormous affection, just like in the stadium when they shout: "Uruguayan"; that infects you", Ronald commented. The center-back was accompanied, besides President Joan Laporta, by sports vice president Rafa Yuste, executive Joan Soler, and Barça's sports director, Deco, whose work was decisive in putting an end to the rumors about the defender's departure.

Araujo is clear: The Champions League is the main objective

On the other hand, Araujo opened up about the goals set by the club for this season, a fundamental reason for ruling out leaving in January, along with the fact of knowing he is important for the blaugrana project. "I hope they are great years and that they come with titles, which is the most important thing. To continue growing as a professional, I know how important I am for this team and I believe I can contribute a lot".

In this regard, he added: "We have something pending which is the Champions League and it is the biggest objective we are going to pursue, for sure". For the culé captain, one of Barça's strengths lies in the young talent. "I am very eager and I can infect others. We have a young team, but very good", pointed out the player from Rivera. Ronald has made 155 official appearances with the club, scoring 8 goals and providing 6 assists. His honors include two Spanish Supercups and one League title.