Barca confirm injuries for defensive duo Araujo, Kounde

BARCELONA: BARCELONA defender Ronald Araujo suffered a thigh-muscle tear while on international duty, his club said on Saturday, while confirming Jules Kounde also had a thigh issue.

Araujo was taken off inside the first minute of Uruguay’s 1-0 loss to Iran in a friendly on Friday night. Kounde lasted just 23 minutes of France’s 2-0 Nations League win over Austria on Thursday.

The central defenders will miss their countries’ next match and are likely to be unavailable for Barcelona’s first games when club football resumes.

The 23-year-old will be desperate to be fit for Barcelona’s next few games. While they could probably manage without him against Mallorca, they face Inter at the San Siro just a few days ater the international contingent return to Catalonia.

With the Clasico approaching on October 16, Xavi Hernandez may need to construct a new defence for upcoming fixtures, including a reprieve for Gerard Pique, who has been largely frozen out. Since he was registered to play for the Catalan side, following his summer switch from Sevilla, Kounde has become a key part of Barcelona’s rearguard, oten used at right-back. Spanish reports suggest he will be out for at least three weeks, although the club did not specify a recovery time.

The international break has been problematic for Barca. Memphis Depay suffered a hamstring injury with the Netherlands in their 2-0 win over Poland on thursday. fr en ki ed ejongw as substituted for precaution in the same match.

Meanwhile, de pay has admit ed that he snubbed the chance to sever ties with Barcelona over the summer, with Chelsea credited with interest at one stage. The Netherlands international forward has previously spent time in England with Manchester United, but struggled to make an impact at Old Trafford and had to rebuild his reputation in France with Lyon. His exploits there earned him a move to Camp Nou as a free agent in 2021, but game time has been limited with La Liga giants and there was talk of another switch being made in the last transfer window.

Memphis has told mar ca of receiving approaches but choosing to knock them back: “I had two starts in the last two weeks in La Liga. It is not enough. I went off ater 60 minutes but I want more. In the last 25 minutes of the match there are more spaces and there is always an opportunity to take advantage of that.