Is Ronald Araujo Enough Defensive Cover for Liverpool This Summer?

Andoni Iraola and Liverpool's defensive issues have been slightly alleviated by the signing of FC Barcelona defender and Uruguay international Ronald Araujo.

The club looked set to be going into the new season with either a highly inexperienced and not fully match Jeremy Jacquet, or a very inexperienced option in Luke Chambers for example. 

But the Reds moved quickly to secure their signing, as it appears they saw an opportunity in the market and acted accordingly.

The 28 year old adds a high level of experience and top level quality to Liverpool's defensive ranks, but is his addition enough to solve Liverpool's headache when it comes to available defender's this season? 

Now that he has signed though, thoughts must turn to re-evaluating the clubs current options in defence and whether or not this is good enough for LFC to go into next season with. 

Will Araujo Be Sufficient Cover For LFC?

Liverpool currently have four defenders who are unavailable or were unavailable for Andoni Iraola's last team selection. With one of those, Jeremy Jacquet, he is closing in on a return with it being expected that he features in one of the Reds games against Italian side Como on Sunday.

But with the other three, an exact time of return is unknown. Joe Gomez is possibly the first back with him returning sometime after the Newcastle game. Conor Bradley will remain out longer term, and Giovanni Leoni is expected back in between the pair of them. 

But all three of these defenders for one reason or another can't be relied upon going into this season.

Joe Gomez has had persistent injuries at Liverpool for a number of years, in the last two seasons the English defender has missed 34 games for Liverpool

Giovanni Leoni and Jeremy Jacquet are both young and haven't any games for LFC, other than Leoni who played one game against Southampton in the EFL Cup where he sustained his knee injury.

And reportedly, the idea with the signing of Araujo is that he is supposed to be cover for not only central defence but also at right back, but is that too much to ask?

Araujo has had injuries of his own of the last few years, with him missing 33 games due to injury over the last two seasons, so have LFC signed Joe Gomez version two or will Araujo be able to stay fit for more of the season?

Author's Verdict

Ronald Araujo is of course a risk for Liverpool, considering his injury record and subsequent lack of minutes played over the last few years.

But, the defender isn't a massive roll of the dice given he has signed on loan initially, with the club having the option to make the deal a permanent one next summer. 

So, you can look at it as a win-win for Liverpool. Should LFC manage to keep Araujo fit for the majority of the season then they have a top level defender who has all the abilities and traits to be a important piece of the puzzle for Andoni Iraola at Liverpool.

But should it not work out between Ronald Araujo and Liverpool then they can send him back to Barcelona with nothing lost, other than wages.

Furthermore, they will have bought themselves an additional year to scan the defender market in order to have a better understanding of who they want to bring in next summer.

So in the short term, Araujo could prove to be adequate cover, but in the long term, the clear make up of Liverpool's defence remains a question unanswered at the moment.