Barca move for Galaxy’s Araujo may be foiled by 18-second delay

BARCELONA: Barcelona may be foiled from signing LA Galaxy defender Julian Araujo because their paperwork was filed 18 seconds late with FIFA.

The Spanish club are waiting on a verdict from the world football governing body over the deal to bring the 21-year-old Mexican right-back to the club’s B team, Barca Atletic.

Barca allowed Spanish right-back Hector Bellerin to depart for Sporting Lisbon shortly before the window closed, leaving the squad without any specialists in the position.

However they ran out of time to register Araujo on deadline day Tuesday, blaming a computer problem for delaying them.

“He’s a player who was coming to join Barca Atletic, there was a bit of confusion in that sense,” Barcelona sporting director Mateu Alemany told Movistar on Wednesday.

“Basically we didn’t get there in time because of a computer error, we’re trying to clarify what caused it, and it’s likely it was the system that caused it.

“As it’s 18 seconds, I don’t know what FIFA will do.”

As well as Bellerin’s departure, Barcelona sold forward Memphis Depay to Atletico Madrid in January.

French side Paris Saint-germain also had a deadline day loan move fall through for Chelsea midfielder Hakim Ziyech, ater the London side did not send the required documents in time.

Araujo was called into the United States national soccer team by Gregg Berhalter for the January 2020 camp, but did not make an official match appearance. He was called up again in December 2020 for a game against El Salvador, in which he made his senior level debut. Araujo was named to the final 20-player United States under-23 roster for the 2020 CONCACAF Men’s Olympic Qualifying Championship in March 2021. On 18 June 2021, Araujo was named to the preliminary 59-player USMNT roster for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup but was let off of the final roster on 1 July 2021. Berhalter cited Araujo’s dual citizenship and him not feeling ready to become cap-tied to the USMNT.

n