Liverpool have agreed a surprise loan deal for Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo for the season. The 27-year-old Uruguay international joined Barcelona B in 2018 and was promoted to the first team in 2019, signing a new contract until 2031 last year.\n\nAraujo will add depth to Liverpool's defence following the departure of Ibrahima Konate to Real Madrid and fitness concerns over Jeremy Jacquet. Joe Gomez is injured, and teenage centre-back Giovanni Leoni is recovering from an ACL injury, leaving Virgil van Dijk as the only fully-fit senior centre-back.\n\nAraujo made his Barcelona debut in October 2019 and has played over 200 games for the club.

He was named a captain after Marc-Andre Ter Stegen's departure in January but started only 11 La Liga matches last season after an extended break due to depression.\n\nIn other news, Liverpool have held preliminary talks with PSG over Bradley Barcola, but a significant gap in valuation—PSG value the 23-year-old at £145m—makes the deal difficult to complete.