Ronald Araujo likened to loan signing involved in epic Liverpool transfer mistake
Liverpool’s surprise deal for Uruguay centre-back Ronald Araujo has shades of a deal the club did over 20 years ago for Nicolas Anelka.
The Barcelona captain has completed a season-long loan to Anfield in a move which carries an element of risk for both the club and player.
The Merseyside switch represents a fresh start for Araujo, who agreed to take a pay cut to facilitate his exit from the Nou Camp.
The 27-year-old voiced his struggles with his mental health last campaign, which led to him taking an enforced break from football.
Following his red card in Barcelona’s 3-0 loss to Chelsea in the Champions League on November 25, Araujo did not play again until the Spanish Super Cup final on January 11.
The defender’s temporary stint in England does carry an option to make the transfer permanent for around £47.14million (€55m).
However, Liverpool’s new No.33 must first vindicate the calculated gamble which the Reds have taken on him to solve their injury crisis.
Before Araujo’s arrival, Andoni Iraola only had Virgil van Dijk as his only fit senior centre-back just two weeks before the opening game.
The club captain is now 35-years-old, and has played more minutes for club and country than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues since June 2025.
His former defensive partner Ibrahima Konate joined Real Madrid, with Joe Gomez sustaining another injury in pre-season last month.
Giovanni Leoni is still not available after he suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament on his Liverpool debut last September.
New signing Jeremy Jacquet is yet to make his first appearance due to being hampered by a knee problem, having missed the bulk of the second half of last season with a shoulder issue.
Young defender Ifeanyi Ndukwe has impressed in pre-season, but failure to secure a UK work permit means he’ll have to be loaned.
Liverpool also remain short at right-back, with Conor Bradley a long-term absentee, which led to calls for defensive reinforcements.
Araujo can play at centre-back or right-back – which suggests that Iraola won’t be tipping back into the market for more defenders.
Araujo to Liverpool deal like Anelka
The Telegraph’s Merseyside Football Reporter Dom King told talkSPORT Breakfast duo Andy Townsend and Jeff Stelling: “I’ve been sort of trying to look for reference points back in Liverpool’s past and what sort of does this chime with?
“And the one that I’ve come closest to is Nicolas Anelka back in 2001. I remember when Liverpool got him on loan. They signed him at Christmas, the same day as they signed Milan Baros.
“I remember the stories of why had Liverpool signed Anelka?” King continued on talkSPORT.
“He’d obviously gone from Arsenal to Real Madrid, things hadn’t worked out there, he had a reputation.
“But he came in, and he was absolutely fantastic for six months. And it was one of [Gérard] Houllier’s biggest mistakes that he didn’t sign him permanently when he could have done it.
“He allowed Nicolas Anelka to go to Manchester City.
“But the point I’m making is Anelka arrived at Liverpool with a pedigree of playing at the top, of knowing what quality football is.
“And he showed that in the right surroundings. Now, Araujo has had difficulties at Barcelona, but I don’t think anybody would dispute the quality that he’s got there.
“He was captain of a Barcelona team that’s won the league. Now, that says everything about him. He can clearly play football.”
Gerrard says Liverpool made transfer mistake with Anelka
As mentioned, Liverpool had the opportunity to sign Anelka after the forward spent the second half of the 2001/02 season on loan from Paris Saint-Germain.
The Frenchman had previously spent two-and-a-half seasons with Arsenal, where he scored 23 Premier League goals from 65 matches.
Even though Anelka netted just four times for the Reds, talkSPORT’s Danny Murphy believes Liverpool would have gone on to win the title had they turned the loan into a permanent stay.
Instead, then-manager Houllier chose to sign El Hadji Diouf in a decision Steven Gerrard claimed summed up the poor recruitment at the club during his time as captain.
Diouf arrived at Anfield in June 2002 off the back of a stellar World Cup for Senegal.
The striker began his tournament with a man-of-the-match display for the Lions of Teranga in their shock 1-0 win over reigning champions France.
Yet he scored just six goals from 80 appearances across all competitions for Liverpool and was famously involved in a bust-up with iconic skipper Gerrard.
Diouf, who failed to find the net in 33 appearances during his second and final season for the club, was then shipped off to Bolton.
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