Barcelona director faces headache as centre-back duo refuse to leave the club – report | OneFootball

Earlier this summer, Barcelona’s sporting director Deco publicly announced that the squad has an excess of centre-backs and that the department had potential for a big exit.

At the time, the limelight unsurprisingly fell on Ronald Araujo and Andreas Christensen who were both not part of Hansi Flick’s regular starting XI despite being elite players in their position.

Now, however, Deco faces a serious headache as both Araujo and Christensen have made it clear that they wish to stay at the club, as relayed by AS.

No wish to leave

As reported by the Spanish outlet, both Araujo and Christensen have made it clear that they have no intention of leaving the club and further proved their points by returning early to training.

The Uruguayan star, who was set to leave the club in January, is now motivated by the chance of becoming the first-team captain should Marc-Andre ter Stegen leave. He believes he can recover his level with a good pre-season and some playing time.

Christensen and Araujo do not want to leave. (Photo by Alex Caparros/Getty Images)

Araujo returned to training on Wednesday and has been working hard on his fitness ever since, and has his eyes on a return to the starting XI.

Christensen, meanwhile, was seen to be saleable given that he has just one year left on his contract.

He too, however, returned to training early, in fact even earlier than Araujo, and is determined to make an impression after missing out on last season through injury.

The Danish star is happy and comfortable in Catalonia, has adapted well to the club, and knows he has a profile that Hansi Flick will appreciate, and thus closes the door to a departure.

Deco, thus, now faces a massive dilemma in terms of whom to sell, for there are no players in the department willing to leave.

Eric Garcia would appear to be one, but selling him after he proved his worth last season would be a black spot on the sporting director’s legacy.