Last winter transfer window, Barcelona made an effort to renew Ronald Araújo’s contract until 2025 to prevent his move to Juventus of Turin at a time when Flick didn’t have many reliable options in defense. However, as reported by ‘SPORT’, this new contract included a ‘secret’ clause that Bayern Munich is now willing to trigger in order to make the Uruguayan center-back the new leader of their defense.

The Price for Which Araújo Could Leave Barcelona

According to recent media reports in Spain, Bayern Munich was also interested in signing Ronald Araújo during the last winter window and was willing to offer 80 million euros to secure his services. Now, they are prepared to pay the 65 million euro fee that would allow Ronald Araújo to leave Barcelona between July 1st and 15th.

Bayern Munich is convinced that the biggest weakness in Vincent Kompany’s first season on the bench at the Allianz Arena has ironically been the defense—especially since Upamecano’s injury during the last FIFA international break. Since then, even though they’ve kept clean sheets in their last two matches, Bayern Munich has conceded nine goals in seven games… and four of those came in their Champions League tie against Inter Milan.

Initial Moves in Bayern Munich’s Defense

Bayern Munich’s board has been working for weeks on various moves, and this very morning, it was confirmed that Eric Dier will not renew his contract and is expected to leave as a free agent to join Monaco. Another defender who could leave the Allianz Arena is Kim Min Jae, who joined last season for 50 million euros… but has never managed to display the dominant form he showed at Napoli.

The sale of Kim Min Jae himself could be what funds the signing of Ronald Araújo by Bayern Munich, and according to sources in Spain, Barcelona would not oppose receiving those 65 million euros to strengthen other areas and cover his departure by signing Jonathan Tan as a free agent. However, if Kim Min Jae is not sold, Bayern could shift its focus and try to sign Kim Min Jae again by offering him a much more attractive contract.