Bayern Munich director presented club’s project to €70 million-rated Barcelona mainstay – report

Bayern Munich appear to be very serious in their pursuit of FC Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo ahead of the January transfer window.

Reports of the Bavarian giants’ interest started surfacing over the past week, with it being suggested that the Bundesliga champions’ manager Thomas Tuchel even spoke with the Barça captain recently.

Tuchel downplayed those rumours over the weekend while Araujo’s entourage also denied any such interaction taking place.

Bayern director presented the club’s project to Araujo

Despite that, though, reports in Germany continue to insist that Bayern Munich did have an interaction with Ronald Araujo.

Indeed, Florian Plettenberg of Sky Germany is now claiming that the Bavarian giants’ sporting director, Christoph Freund, presented the club’s project to the Uruguayan defender during the call that took place, in which Tuchel was also involved.

Araujo has cemented himself as one of the best defenders in the game currently and has risen to great heights at Barcelona in the past few seasons, even donning the captain’s armband this campaign.

So, it does not come as a surprise to see Bayern Munich showing an interest in him and making him one of their top targets for January.

Earlier today, Freund even hinted at some talks taking place in the background, saying: “I don’t want to make a statement on that. The transfer window is approaching. Generally speaking — there are some talks, but I don’t want to say anything about that in detail.”

Araujo not going anywhere

Despite all the talk and speculations, Barcelona stand clear on the matter of Araujo’s future – he is simply untouchable and not for sale.

In fact, the Blaugrana have made it a top priority to offer the 24-year-old, whose market value stands at €70 million, a new long-term contract with an improved salary reflecting his status within the squad.

So, unless Bayern Munich are ready to match his €1 billion release clause, the chances of them prying Araujo away from Barcelona appear next to impossible.