‘He’s pushing hard’… Ronald Araujo backs Barcelona youngster to return stronger from exile | OneFootball

Although he has seen his importance in the FC Barcelona squad drop significantly since the start of this season, the Uruguayan centre-back Ronald Araujo still remains a fundamental part of this squad.

The defender missed most part of this season with an injury, and even after recovering, is finding it hard to get his place in the starting lineup back, with Inigo Martinez and Pau Cubarsi set as fixed starters for Hansi Flick.

Still, he remains one of the captains of this team, and in Marc Andre Ter Stegen’s absence, and has taken the armband whenever he steps on the pitch this season.

Along with him, another player who is struggling to make his case for more minutes on the pitch is the winger Ansu Fati, who has not been named in the squad list for a majority of games in the last two months.

Araujo recently appeared in an interview with SPORT, and one of the aspects he talked about in this interview was the situation of Fati.

Photo by Eric Alonso/Getty Images

The Uruguayan expressed his affection for the out-of-favour forward and was convinced that he only needs some minutes on the pitch to get back to his best:

“I have a lot of affection for him; he’s like a brother to me. He’s doing well, training with confidence. It’s tough for a player when you’re not called up and don’t get minutes, but I don’t see him sad.”

“He’s pushing hard to convince the coach. When we were coming back from injury, we did one-on-one drills, and I watched him and thought, ‘He’s flying.’ He’s got the talent. He just needs to play.”

Ansu Fati’s ostracism from the Barcelona team has been one of the unpleasant blemishes of this season, which has otherwise gone very well for the Blaugrana team. Hopefully, this problem will be solved as soon as possible, with the young forward either getting his desired importance in the team or leaving for another side where he will get more minutes.