Who will be the next Barcelona captain? Ronald Araujo stakes his claim to succeed Sergio Busquets

• Busquets has left as a free agent
• La Masia graduates favoured
• Uruguayan defender fancies job

WHAT HAPPENED? The Blaugrana have seen their armband passed between a number of iconic home-grown stars in recent times, with the likes of Carles Puyol, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Lionel Messi, Gerard Pique and Busquets taking on skipper duties. The latter has now left as a free agent and linked up with Inter Miami, where he will be reunited with Messi, and another on-field leader is required to step up at Camp Nou.

WHAT THEY SAID: Long-serving Sergi Roberto - as another La Masia academy graduate - is expected to get the nod, but Uruguayan defender Araujo has said when asked if he could be a captaincy candidate: “I am proud of the possibility of becoming a Barcelona captain, but it does not depend on me. We have to respect those players who have been here longer. I consider myself a natural leader, regardless of whether I wear the armband or not, and that will continue for the rest of my career. I feel important and I think that was seen last year. I have to maintain that and help the team. We have to have a better season than last year.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE: Araujo has been on Barca’s books since 2018, taking in 113 competitive appearances for the club, and will have a new centre-half partner next season as Inigo Martinez joins the ranks in Catalunya. Araujo has said of that summer transfer: “He’s a great player, we already know that. He hasn’t been able to train with us yet, but he will soon. I’m happy to be in another pre-season. We have a nice team. Important players are arriving who are going to add things and we believe that we can go for all the competitions.”

IN THREE PHOTOS:

Getty Images

Getty

(C)Getty Images

WHAT NEXT? Barca missed out on the chance to re-sign Messi in the current window, as he headed to MLS, but they have acquired Martinez and former Manchester City star Ilkay Gundogan – with the promise of more deals to come despite financial uncertainty continuing to reign at Camp Nou.