Barcelona coach Flick confirms Araujo's Liverpool move

MADRID — Barcelona's Uruguayan defender Ronald Araujo is on the verge of joining Liverpool on a season-long loan, Barca coach Hansi Flick has confirmed on Sunday.

"Ronald is a great guy and a fantastic player; he is strong and fast and good with the ball, but I think he also needs to do something new. In football as in life, things change, and you have to accept them," said Flick after his side played in a triangular tournament against Nottingham Forest and Udinese in Udine on Sunday, as quoted by Xinhua.

The proposed move would see the 27-year-old, who joined Barcelona at the age of 19, leave the La Liga champion after several years disrupted by injuries and stress-related issues, which saw him take a break from football in the middle of last season.

Araujo has made 213 first-team appearances for Barcelona, scoring 14 goals, although he has featured in only 36 La Liga matches over the past two campaigns after falling down the pecking order following the emergence of players such as Pau Cubarsi and Gerard Martin.

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According to Barcelona-based newspaper El Mundo Deportivo, Liverpool will pay all of the defender's wages, freeing up space for Barcelona to make further signings before the summer transfer window closes at the end of August.

Liverpool also has an option to make the move permanent at the end of the season. Araujo's arrival would strengthen a defense depleted by Ibrahima Konate's free transfer to Real Madrid at the end of last season and a preseason muscle injury suffered by Joe Gomez, which has left veteran Virgil van Dijk as the squad's only fit and experienced center-back.

Liverpool's defensive weakness was evident in a recent 4-2 defeat to Leeds United on its U.S. tour, when it conceded four goals in the final 30 minutes.