Villa make ambitious move for Barcelona defender Araujo

Aston Villa are said to be preparing a shock move to sign Barcelona defender Ronald Araujo.

The Premier League club, who are in the Champions League next season, want to take the next step in their evolution.

Per Sport in Spain, Villa boss Unai Emery is a huge admirer of the speedy center half.

Araujo does have a contract situation at Barca that has not been resolved, as he is yet to pen a new deal.

The Uruguay international, 25, is available for a fee of around 86 million this summer.

However, he is likely to attract attention from nearly all of Europe's top clubs, even at that price tag.