Ronald Araujo can break a 20-year curse at Liverpool if he continues to shine on loan from Barcelona
Below is a summary of the full article. Click here for the full version from Rousing the Kop or go back to LFC Live.
Almost four months on from his emotional Liverpool exit, the Anfield crowd must have half-thought that Andy Robertson had reappeared during Wednesday’s win over Atletico Madrid.The way Ronald Araujo put the burners on to charge Atletico down all the way back to goalkeeper Jan Oblak had more than a few shades of Robertson’s legendary pressing against Manchester City way back in 2018.That run really announced Robertson to the Liverpool fans and felt like a watershed moment as he turned from a low-cost arrival from Hull to a genuine fixture in the first team. Araujo may not be at that point just yet, but his performance against Atletico felt like the birth of a new Liverpool hero.
Photo Credit: Getty Images/Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar There is still a long season ahead, and plenty of work to do, if the Uruguayan is to convince his temporary team to make his loan move from Barcelona permanent, but the early signs are that Araujo could become the first loan player to join Liverpool for good since Javier Mascherano in 2007.Araujo is ending Liverpool’s bad luck with loansAs one of the biggest football clubs on the planet, Liverpool have not regularly dealt in loan deals. Since Mascherano convinced Rafa Benitez to sign him while on loan from West Ham 20 years ago, the Reds have sanctioned some shocking loans.None of Nuri Sahin, Victor Moses, Aly Cissokho, Javier Manquillo, Steven Caulker, Ozan Kabak or Arthur Melo ever looked good enough to join Liverpool permanently, despite several of them having options for the Reds to trigger that outcome.READ MORE: Reminder: The conditions Liverpool can meet to permanently sign Ronald Araujo from BarcelonaAraujo, on the other hand, has so far shown that the £47m fee Liverpool would have to pay to buy him outright could absolutely be worth it.After just four matches he has now made the right-back position his own, and having shown passion and fight for the badge already, a permanent move could definitely be on the cards.Signing Araujo can make sense for LiverpoolPart of the reason a number of Liverpool’s loan moves have not worked out is because the players themselves were always being brought in as temporary solutions.When he was initially signed in August, the view was that this would be the case for Araujo as well, with Liverpool having their eye on other, more longer term targets for the future.Photo by Richard Sellers/Sportsphoto/Allstar via Getty ImagesHowever, the Reds know that they are going to lose Joe Gomez on a free transfer next summer.
The season has a long way to run, but if Araujo can maintain this form at least up until the winter, he should have confidence that he can make his move permanent.Of course, this all depends on what he wants to do as well. After sending a reminder of his qualities, the 27-year-old may want to return to Barcelona and stake his claim at Camp Nou again.But if he is open to joining Liverpool for the long-term, then discussions should begin soon about how that can happen.