Chelsea lodge major offer to snipe £85m Barcelona star from under Man Utd, leaving Ratcliffe furious

Ronald Araujo, Chelsea

Chelsea have reportedly opened with a major offer for Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo, who is being targeted by Manchester United.

Both Chelsea and United are expected to sanction huge changes this summer. The managerial situation at both clubs is currently unclear, more so at Stamford Bridge.

Indeed, Mauricio Pochettino is gone despite leading the Blues to sixth place – an improvement of six places from where they came last season with Frank Lampard under interim charge at the back end.

The likes of Kieran McKenna and Enzo Maresca are being looked at for the Chelsea job.

At United, Erik ten Hag could be shown the door, and some of the same managers are on their list, as well as Pochettino, TEAMtalk sources have stated.

Both sides are also looking to improve on the field, and have regularly been looking at the same players. Up top, the likes of Victor Osimhen and Ivan Toney have been on both Chelsea and United’s radars.

Both sides are also keen to recruit at centre-back, with the former losing Thiago Silva and the latter Raphael Varane.

Barcelona defender Araujo was a major target of new United part-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s and he is even said to have lodged a contract offer for the Uruguayan.

Chelsea burst in for Araujo

It was reported Barcelona might be willing to accept offers at the same time that happened, with the defender becoming an ‘antagonist’ at the club.

However, United could fail in that pursuit, with Chelsea now in the mix.

Indeed, seemingly from nowhere, it’s reported in the Spanish media that the Blues have tabled a major offer for Araujo.

It’s not clear what the price of that is, but Barcelona are believed to want approximately £85million for the defender.

Chelsea could trigger United move

Araujo is said to have maintained that he is happy at the Nou Camp despite recent claims that Barca wan’t him gone.

Further to that, it was believed United would look to strike if he indicated he was ready to leave.

But given Chelsea have beaten them to the punch, if they want to retaliate, they may have to act fast.

That could mean that the Red Devils match their Premier League rivals by lodging an offer to Barcelona for Araujo. Where he ends up remains to be seen, but the Blues may well have the upper hand right now.