CHERRIES have completed the signing of Mexico international right-back Julian Araujo.

Araujo, who turns 23 today, joins from Barcelona for a fee of around £8.5million on a five-year contract, providing further competition for the likes of Adam Smith and Max Aarons in that position.

The deal is understood to not include any buy-back or sell-on clause.

Cherries chief executive Neill Blake said: “Julian is someone who we have tracked for a while now and we’re delighted to bring him to AFC Bournemouth.

“He’s a young player with high potential and we’re pleased to have beaten lots of competition for his signature.

“We believe that we have all the tools here for Julian to build on the quality he already has and we really look forward to welcoming him to Vitality Stadium.”

California-born Araujo featured more than 100 times for LA Galaxy, before joining Barca in February 2023. The MLS club are due a percentage of the transfer fee Cherries have paid.

He has not played a competitive fixture for Barcelona, having spent last season out on loan in La Liga with Las Palmas.

For the Canary Islands club, Araujo made 28 appearances last season, scoring two goals, including one against Getafe in La Liga as Las Palmas ended 16th in the Spanish top flight.

Araujo served a four-match suspension during the season, having been sent off after going head-to-head with Tenerife veteran Nacho Martinez in a Copa Del Rey match.

He also missed a spell of matches towards the end of the campaign due to a hamstring issue and he was not part of this summer’s Copa America.

Araujo did however feature for Barcelona in pre-season, during a 2-2 friendly draw against Manchester City in Orlando.

He then flew to England over the weekend and underwent a medical on Monday, before completing his move and will now join in training ahead of Saturday’s Premier League opener at Nottingham Forest.

The defender becomes the fourth new face to join club’s senior squad this summer, following Alex Paulsen, Daniel Jebbison and Dean Huijsen.