Barcelona decide not to register injured club captain in La Liga until January

Barcelona have decided not to register second captain and key defender Ronald Araujo in La Liga until January, according to Javi Miguel of AS.

Given the problem that the Blaugrana are having with regard to Fair Play and registration of players, they have decided not to register Araujo for the time being owing to his long-term injury.

Araujo out for a minimum of four months

Araujo suffered a serious hamstring injury earlier this month while playing for Uruguay at the Copa America in the USA.

Having undergone surgery for the same, the defensive superstar is now expected to be out of action for a minimum of four months at least.

Considering that he will be out of action for almost the entirety of the first half of the season, it seems that Barcelona have now opted not to register Araujo with La Liga and instead use that salary space to register other players.

As of now, first-team players like Inigo Martinez and Vitor Roque are not registered by Barcelona while there are also concerns about the club’s ability to register new signings as well.

As such, the decision to not register Araujo for the first half of the season could provide the Catalans some room to take care of the registration of other players.

What are Hansi Flick’s alternatives?

The decision means that Hansi Flick will not be able to count on Araújo until January, so he will have to manage the rest of the centre-backs pragmatically.

It would possibly see Jules Kounde and Andreas Christensen return to playing regularly at centre-back after having been fielded as a right-back and defensive midfielder, respectively, in the last season.

Inigo Martinez, if registered, could also have a role in the manager’s plans while Pau Cubarsi will also be an option once he returns from the Olympic games.

Leaving out Araujo could also see Eric Garcia get an opportunity in the first-team setup after his impressive loan stint with Girona.