Barcelona face stiff competition in race to sign 24-year-old Copa America star

Maxi Araujo has been one of the revelations in the ongoing Copa America. A winger by trade, the young man from Toluca has been mesmerising onlookers with his performances for the Uruguayan national team.

Araujo has been involved in three goals in three matches, helping Uruguay win all of their games in the competition so far.

The young winger’s performances have not gone unnoticed either, with Barcelona reportedly identifying him as an ideal alternative to top target Nico Williams.

Stiff competition for Barcelona

However, securing the services of Maxi Araujo will be far from a straightforward task, at least as far as Barcelona are concerned.

According to SPORT, the Catalans are set to face stiff competition from Premier League and Liga NOS teams in the race to sign the Toluca starlet.

English clubs such as Nottingham Forest and Aston Villa are keeping close tabs on Araujo’s development.

Clubs from Portugal, Germany and even Spain are not far behind either and could weigh up a move for the Uruguayan international in the coming summer.

Araujo to cost €20 million

What makes Maxi Araujo such an appealing target for clubs across Europe is his meagre valuation.

As per the report, the winger has a €20 million release clause embedded in his contract with Toluca, which is quite reasonable even for Barcelona.

However, it also means other clubs can afford the services of Araujo as well and given their greater economic firepower, they could potentially woo the player with a higher salary.

That is something Barcelona cannot do right now, thus potentially putting Catalans in the backseat. These are still early days, however, and more details regarding Araujo’s future will only come after the Copa America.