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Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo has revealed that he would like to spend the rest of his career at the club.
The Uruguay international recently extended his contract until 2026 and has further gone on to commit his long-term future to the Catalans.
Speaking in an interview conducted by Mundo Deportivo, the 23-year-old stated that he wants to spend the rest of his career at Camp Nou.
“I want to try and spend my whole career here in Barcelona. I only think about Barca.
“There were a lot of opinions, but in the end I took the decision. The people that work with me have always respected my decision and even though there were important offers in terms of the numbers, I always wanted to stay in Barcelona.”
Araujo joined the Blaugrana from Uruguayan club Boston River in 2018. He spent two seasons in the club's second team and made his first team debut in October 2019.
He was promoted at the start of the 2020-21 season and has been a mainstay at the heart of the defense.
So far, the former Rentistas man has made 82 appearances in all competitions for Barcelona, scoring six goals, including one in a 4-0 thrashing of Real Madrid at the Santiago Bernabeu.
His club form has also seen him become a regular on the international scene, with nine caps won for Uruguay since he made his international bow in October 2020.
Ronald Araujo's contract extension is a positive step in Barcelona rebuilding plans
Barcelona are in the process of rebuilding their squad to compete for the future, having struggled to match their previous heights in recent years.
Xavi's appointment last year has helped to steady the ship following their disastrous start to the season and they ended up securing Champions League qualification.
In many ways, Barcelona's second-place finish in La Liga last season represented a major achievement that was hardly conceivable at the midway point of the campaign.
Attention will now turn to augmenting the squad and significant progress has been made in this regard. Deals have already been agreed for Andreas Christensen and Franck Kessie to join the club on free transfers, while Robert Lewandowski has been linked with a move to Barcelona.
Ronald Araujo's contract extension is also a positive development and discussions are currently being held with Gavi about committing his long-term future to Barcelona.
