Barcelona missed out on the transfer deadline day signing of LA Galaxy defender Julian Araujo because the club submitted their paperwork ‘18 seconds’ after the window had closed, it has been claimed.
Barcelona were in talks with the MLS club over signing the 21-year-old right back for $6.5 million in a deal until 2026, and had reached an agreement over the transfer.
The club had already created room in their squad for Araujo to arrive, with former Arsenal defender Hector Bellerin joining Sporting Lisbon on loan on deadline day.
But as the Spanish side scrambled to submit their paperwork to LaLiga, Barcelona encountered technical difficulties with the online filing system, according to the club’s sporting director director of football Mateu Alemany.
Alemany explained that Barcelona missed the deadline by a matter of seconds due to a “computer error”, and said they were hopeful Fifa would allow the transfer to go through.
“We didn’t arrive on time due to a computer error - the delay was 18 seconds," Alemany said: "We’ll have to wait and see what Fifa decide."
Araujo would have been Barcelona’s only signing of the January transfer window, with Bellerin and Memphis Depay leaving the club.
Araujo, for now, remains a LA Galaxy player, and his was not the only deal on deadline day that collapsed before the window closed.
Paris Saint-Germain were furious with Chelsea after the transfer of Hakim Ziyech failed to go through before the deadline.
It has been claimed to The Independent that the wrong documentation or incorrectly filled-out forms were sent four times, however Chelsea insist that the papers failed to send due to “unforeseen technical issues” which meant the 11pm deadline was missed.
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