Araujo, look at Umtiti - will Uruguayan take surgery?
The defender is hurt but would like to play at the World Cup with his country
Comparisons are odious but they can lay out a hard precedent. Ronald Araujo is still deciding if he will have surgery or not to treat his thigh muscle tear. The shadow of what happened to Samuel Umtiti looms large over the club’s medical services.
In the summer of 2018, during France vs Peru, Umtiti clashed with Jefferson Farfan and hurt his knee. Since then he was never the same player again, playing through the World Cup and damaging himself. He prioritised France over Barcelona and paid a high price. His knee was like that of a retired player. He won the World Cup, but he never earned his place back at Barcelona. The club are worried that Araujo might choose similar.
The Uruguayan defender, who signed a renewal recently, will listen to everyone before deciding whether or not to take surgery. His dream, evidently, is to play at the World Cup with Uruguay, so avoiding surgery could help that. But he does not want to run the risk of a relapse if he doesn’t take the operation either.
