"Be captain? I'm a leader with or without the armband"

Uruguayan international Ronald Araujo declared on Thursday, on the first day of Barcelona's pre-season in Los Angeles, that he believes himself to be a "born leader "beyond the possibility of being captain of the Catalan club in the near future.
"It's always an honour that you could be given the chance, but it doesn't depend on me. It's something the teammates choose. Another thing that's important is how much time you've been at the club, who has been here longer", he said to the press.
"I consider myself a leader whether or not I wear the captain's armband. I'm a born leader and I think I'll always be like that", he declared.
Barcelona completed their scheduled double training session on Thursday at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, the stadium that hosted the 1932 and 1984 Olympic Games and which, along with SoFi Stadium, will be the main venue for the 2028 event.
Araujo spoke to the media in the morning session, which was marked by a dry and sweltering heat in the Californian city, and was totally convinced of Barcelona's chances of being the best of the best in all tournaments. "We have a good team, we have key players coming in who are going to add to it. And we believe we can go all out this year," he said.
The Uruguayan stressed that the unfinished business for Xavi Hernandez's side this season is "above all, Europe". "We have to go step by step. We have to be humble and know where we come from. We have a great team. We are going to fight for the Champions League. Obviously it's not easy, but we have a great team and we're going to fight," he said.
The Catalans will be in Los Angeles until Friday 28 July, although they will travel to Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, in the San Francisco Bay Area, to face Juventus on Saturday and return on the same day. They will then face Arsenal at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles and fly to Dallas to face Madrid on Saturday 29 in a 'Clasico', The final stop on their tour will be in Las Vegas against AC Milan.