Barcelona captain has no intention of leaving, will return to pre-season training on Monday | OneFootball

Hansi Flick’s pre-season with Barcelona began last Monday, and the manager has been overseeing the team’s preparation with the limited players at his disposal.

One of the regular first-team stars who arrived at the club facilities that day to undergo his medicals was Ronald Araujo and he also took the opportunity to meet his teammates and greet them at the beginning of training.

The player also visited the club facilities on Tuesday and Wednesday to carry out rehabilitation work to get back into rhythm ahead of his return to group training.

Raring to come back

As reported by SPORT, Araujo will start pre-season on Monday. He did not play a single minute in Uruguay’s FIFA World Cup campaign which ended in early disappointment owing to injury, but is finally on the verge of a complete recovery.

Araujo to return to training next week. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

At this point, the player’s only intention is to have a good pre-season campaign and earn a place under Hansi Flick for the season ahead – something the defender believes he can achieve.

Araujo is convinced that the manager will start on a fresh slate and hand all centre-backs the same opportunity to impress him.

He will compete with Andreas Christensen, Gerard Martin, Pau Cubarsi and Eric Garcia and will look to earn back his spot.

No intention of leaving

Araujo suffered a complicated campaign last season, primarily owing to the break he took from professional football to recover from his psychological struggles. He did make a return by January but never really earned his place as a starter again.

No intentioon of leaving. (Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images)

As a result of his lack of minutes, the player has often been linked with a departure this summer.

However, Araujo has no intention of leaving as matters stand and is fixated on earning his spot in Catalonia once more.

The captain’s contract at the club extends until June 2031, and he is under no obligation or pressure to leave.

Flick will pay special attention to the Uruguayan star’s level in pre-season, for it could well be Araujo’s best chance of staking a claim for a starting spot.

Last season, the defender had 11 league starts and 24 appearances to his name. In that duration he averaged over five defensive actions per game and scored three goals.