This is a post I wrote in my notes a while back. And so some editing may be needed for a "present tense" grammar, but the info would be the same. So whatever lol
Sources at the bottom.
Hey guys, so this is gonna be a semi long read. So before I begin I just wanna throw out some information. Araujo’s age: 25; Kounde’s reported salary according to Sport from when he signed with us: Koundé will earn 9.5 million euros as wages in the first season and 12 million for the remaining four, apart from a signing bonus of 2 million euros
About two years ago Ronald Araujo renewed his contract with the club until 2026. At that time I think his contract was due to expire in 2023(?). Anyway the club was a financial mess (still kinda is without the rumored deals signed and confirmed) and players were taking deferrals or less money, and the club was also letting players know that this would be temporary as they had a plan in place to straighten itself financially soon-ish.
Araujo signed with us back in 2018 on a 5 year contract with Barcelona B. So I assume he was receiving Barca B wages.
Araujo renewed in 2022 under a “club-friendly deal” meaning it wouldn’t put much financial stress on the club for now. And so it wasn’t much of a raise compared to his previous Barcelona B contract. There was an understanding between the two parties that Araujo would receive a proper raise in his next renewal (now btw) as the club would be financially stronger, but that for now he should ride the storm with the club and wait until then. So essentially the club asked him to wait a bit more so that he could receive the salary that was on par with his football ability.
So the club finally comes with a renewal offer two years later but as of right now the club still hasn’t gotten back on its feet financially (something they mentioned to him last time around renewal time).
Rumors say that they’re offering him less than what Kounde is currently making, but the main point is that the club had asked Araujo in 2022 to sacrifice his desired/rightful salary and that they would compensate him well or reward him well in the next renewal talks. His current contract expires in 2026 and my feeling is that Araujo and his agent want to wait until Barcelona finally sign all the financial deals they have in place so that Barcelona can be in a better financial place and then restart contract talks
Anyway, that’s how I understand it. You guys are more twitter savvy than I am; that is to say you guys actually have twitter accounts. So I’m pretty sure you can find journalists tweets (two years ago) possibly mentioning the “club-friendly deal” Araujo took back in 2022 and how he’d receive more money next time. This was all I could find regarding the club friendly deal, but it’s Yahoo sports unfortunately
https://sports.yahoo.com/time-ticking-against-barcelona-ronald-162700714.html
https://www.sport.es/en/news/barca/figures-jules-kounde-transfer-deal-14206297
https://www.reddit.com/r/Barca/comments/1ek9mjw/comment/lhnjrkf/
by rockyraccoonroad
9 comments
Flick wanted Araujo at Bayern. If he keeps his promise they’ll pay whatever he is asking.
That is so on point 💯
What is the source of Kounde’s wages?
Great post!
Araujo is a demon and will thrive under Flick, he’s had every reason to be expecting a salary bump and it seems we’re giving it to him
After that 22/23 season he deserves to be among the highest paid player in the squad.
I think the fact that he wants similar wages as Koundé is fair altough, I have to say, Koundé deserves a higher salary than Araujó at the moment. He has been a much better player the past 1,5 years not to mention the avaliability.
That aside I hope Araujó renews and bounces back to become the beast that he was.
Ok and why should he earn more than kounde?
Yea that’s how I understand things are with his case. And it’s not just him. Pedri mentioned he trusts the club to follow through on their promises when asked about his renewal earlier this year. I suspect several players accepted these club friendly deals due to the financial situation at the time. They expect the club to follow through with its promises. Otherwise I don’t think any of these renewals will be easy.
Alemany was absolutely great in signing players, but disastrous in negotiating wages. No way, kounde deserved 250k wages at time of signing. No one was going to pay him more than 150k, and barca went ahead like manu paying stupid wages.
Ferran is pound for pound the worst signing of decade but we have done great otherwise.