EXCLUSIVE: Ronald Araujo is quickly becoming a fan's favorite at Anfield following his loan switch from Barcelona over the summer, as the Uruguayan continues to go from strength to strength
Liverpool defender Ronald Araujo has been told that his style of play "goes with the Anfield mentality" as the Uruguayan continues to make himself a fan favorite on Merseyside.
Araujo has arguably been the signing of the summer after emerging from a wobbly opening month with the Reds to become one of the first names on the teamsheet under head coach Andoni Iraola, thriving under the Spaniard in his new role as a makeshift right-back
It is thanks to his early-season performances for Liverpool that he is now being linked with a permanent switch to the club next summer, having only initially joined on a season-long loan from Barcelona, as Reds fans continue to fall in love with his battling performances.
In the most recent game against Brighton on Sunday, a 2-0 victory for Liverpool, Araujo put in his latest impressive showing to earn Premier League Player of the Matchweek, recording 11 defensive contributions (including 9 clearances and 3 tackles) and winning 100 percent of his ground and aerial duels.
The most notable of those came in the first half, when Araujo, after producing a brilliant sliding tackle to disrupt an attack, remarkably dove forward while lying down to clear the ball away with his head from Maxim De Cuyper as the Brighton star tried to take the ball past him while he was still on the ground.
It is those sorts of moments that have seen Araujo quickly endear himself to the Liverpool crowd, leading former Premier League player and manager Gus Poyet to suggest that his countryman just seems to get what it means to play for the Merseyside faithful.
Araujo has quickly become a fan favorite at Liverpool(Image: (Photo by Jan Kruger/Getty Images))
"I think the other day (against Brighton), he done very, very good things, including the first action with the goal," Poyet told Liverpool.com. "But people remember when he saves a ball, when he tackles and kicks it out. He brought Anfield up. And when you start having that connection with the fans, I think you start getting bigger as a player."
Poyet, who most notably played for Chelsea and Tottenham, and managed Brighton and Sunderland in England's top flight, also spoke of the importance of Araujo becoming the latest Uruguayan to play for Liverpool, describing his summer move from Barcelona as "magnificent" for the country.
"For us, for Uruguay, for the national team, it's magnificent," Poyet said. "When Luis Suarez left Liverpool we were thinking, 'Oh we don't have a player at Liverpool', then Darwin Nunez left and it was like, 'Oh, we lost another.'
"Now, to have another one playing there, and especially the way that Ronald Araujo plays - I think it goes with the Anfield mentality.
"I'm not worried he's playing right-back. I think he's shown that he's a player that can play in both positions, and the more he keeps himself fit, I think the better for everybody. You will say for Liverpool, but we think more about the national team, so it's fantastic for us.
"I'm very happy for him because it's not easy to leave Barcelona, remember that. It's not an easy place to say, 'Yeah, I'll go'. So he made a decision, together with the clubs, and it's working very well for him."
While there are arguably few better places to be than Barcelona, Poyet believes that Araujo's switch to the Premier League with Liverpool also works out better for the player and his country, as it helps showcase a different side of him.
"British football is different. Barcelona is like a school, an academy. You need to play in one way, and you get used so much to play that way, that when you go to play in another team - national team - you need to change dramatically. Because Uruguay is not going to play like Barcelona," Poyet explained.
"Now, playing for Liverpool and that passion and the craziness and the going forward, I think it goes a little bit more with our mentality in Uruguay - that passion-related game that is going to make him feel like he is playing for our country."
