Julian Araujo's Transfer To FC Barcelona Officially Off

On the Spanish transfer deadline day earlier this week, it appeared as though Julian Araujo was on his way from the LA Galaxy to the European powerhouse FC Barcelona, but the deal has not been finalised because FIFA rejected the appeal that LA and Barça filed after the deal was done "18 seconds" late.On Tuesday, Araujo became a transfer target for Barcelona. It was first announced that the player would be moving to Catalonia on a loan to Barcelona's reserve club, but the $4 million permanent move was ultimately consummated. However, the petition was submitted after the cutoff owing to a purported "technical glitch," and despite the clubs' requests for FIFA to ratify the agreement with a special dispensation, the world governing body declined.The choice puts an end to "Schrödinger's transfer," which left the globe in suspense for more than 2.5 days over whether Araujo would remain with the Galaxy or move to Barcelona. Araujo, who thankfully did not board a flight for Europe, trained separately from the Galaxy club on Thursday while he awaited word. He will formally be a member of the Galaxy roster until at least this summer.Araujo must get his act together to start the Galaxy season; it is understandable why he would want to transfer to Barcelona, even though he was initially destined for their reserve squad. This is genuinely bad for him. The thought of trying to force a transfer through beyond the deadline—even for a stated "18 seconds"—is quite ludicrous because the teams had a full month to complete this deal.

On the surface, I'm not criticising the Galaxy in this instance. Barcelona took the initiative to complete the task and not postpone it until the last eight hours because they are the selling club.Although they won't have the money to spend (although keep in mind that Barcelona have been functionally bankrupt for a couple of years, and who knows when the check would actually arrive and clear), the Galaxy will be able to keep their starting lineup for the time being, so they are probably not overly disappointed for Araujo that it didn't work out.Araujo is the one who has truly disappointed, and that is unfortunate. I genuinely hope Barcelona completes the transaction on the opening day of the summer transfer window, that they don't get sidetracked by the next bright idea, and that they remember to complete this. Araujo is responsible for the repercussions even if it was not his fault that he became entangled in a mistaken administrative action or a deadline that had passed. That is truly regrettable.We'll have to wait and see what transpires, but even though Araujo will continue to represent LA for the time being, this entire tragic incident serves as a cautionary tale about the consequences of treating people like commodities.