Valverde will turn to this La Masia star to help plug his defence
The Uruguayan defender trained alongside the first team and could make the squad for Sevilla with Lenglet and Umtiti unavailable
The injuries to Samuel Umtiti, Jordi Alba and Junior Firpo coupled with Clement Lenglet's suspension means FC Barcelona are running low on numbers when it comes to defenders. Valverde only has three right-backs (Sergi Roberto, Wague and Semedo) and two centre backs (Pique and Todibo) to choose from against Sevilla.
This has caused Ernesto Valverde to once again look at the youth team for a solution. In the first training session following the Inter match, Valverde has only called up one defender from the B side: Ronald Araujo. With no full-backs in that session, it suggests Semedo will remain filling in on the left until Junior or Alba is available for selection.
Who is Araujo?
Everything points to Araujo making the squad list for the match against Sevilla and earning a place on the bench as Gerard Pique and Todibo start as the centre back pairing.
Araujo is a 20-year-old Uruguayan who joined the club last season from Boston River. He cost around €1.7m but, with add-ons, it could reach €5.2m. The defender is under contract until 2023.
The centre back is a key figure in Francesc Javier Garcia Pimienta's Barça B side. He's played the full 90 minutes in the six matches so far this season and featured in a total of 22 matches last year, scoring three goals in the process.
Ernesto Valverde has called him up to train with the first team on various occasions and even took him on the preseason tour of Japan. He played the opening 45 minutes against Iniesta's Kobe side.
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