LA Galaxy & FC Barcelona confirm Julian Araujo transfer

LA Galaxy and FC Barcelona finally confirmed the transfer of right back Julian Araujo.

The Mexican national team right back secured his long-desired move to La Liga, earning a club-record $4m transfer to Barcelona on Friday – over two weeks past the January window closing.

The defender’s move from LA Galaxy to Barcelona initially fell through during deadline day after FIFA confirmed the documentation for the transfer was filed too late. Despite both teams filing an appeal for the deal, the global football governing body denied the case.

Barcelona director of football Mateu Alemany confirmed a ‘system error’ caused his club to miss the midnight deadline at the end of the transfer window by a matter of just 18 seconds.

But after several attempts, Araujo finally sealed his transfer to Spain’s top division.

“Julian joining FC Barcelona is a great story of a young kid from Southern California coming into the LA Galaxy Academy, through LA Galaxy II and excelling with the first team,” said LA Galaxy head coach and sporting director Greg Vanney.